Page 64 of A Solid Guide to Surviving a Situationship

Like I was the one.

Because at that very moment.

I knew he was the one.

And then, the memory took me somewhere higher.

TOPS of Southside.

The air was cooler up there, softer against my skin, like the city had exhaled and everything with it had slowed down. The world opened wide beneath us—Southside stretched out below, glowing and alive, every light flickering like it was meant to be seen from exactly where we were.

Fireworks bloomed in the distance; the night was celebrating something neither of us had to name.

I stood at the edge, completely in awe.

And I was happy.

Very happy.

Not in the loud, overwhelming way that demanded to be noticed, but in a steady way that settled deep in my chest. The kind of happiness that didn’t ask questions. The kind that just… is.

I didn’t even realize I was smiling so much until it started to ache.

Beside me, Victor sat, one hand resting against the concrete, the other loose on his knee.

And when I turned to him, there it was again.

That look.

But this time, it wasn’t soft or longing.

It was deeper. Fuller. Certain in a way that made my chest tighten, like he wasn’t just seeing me.

Like out of the vastness of everything in front of him—the city, the lights, the stars, the crescent moon, the night—he chose me. Like the city had presented him everything he could possibly love, but his heart chose me.

I sat beside Victor, our shoulders brushing when I settled. I smiled at him, feeling my cheeks burn from his loving stare.

“It’s so cold,” I said.

But what he said next caught me off guard—in the best way.

“I’m so in love with you,” he said.

Simple. Certain. Like it was the easiest truth he had ever spoken.

I didn’t answer immediately. I just looked at him.

Oh my. I was scared.

Oh no. Not even fear could stop it.

Oh wow. I was not just in love with him. I was entirely, irreversibly in love with him.

“I love you too,” I whispered solemnly. “More than the world.”

He leaned in, and when his lips met mine, it wasn’t rushed or uncertain. It was steady. Intentional. Like he had already decided this was where he wanted to be.

A tear slipped down my cheek before I could stop it. Because I had never felt a love like this before. And no one had ever made me feel like I was worth loving like that.