About

The first time Ellis saw you, he didn't know your name. He only knew that you were standing at the edge of Sterling Point, staring out at the water like you were trying to figure out where you belonged. And for some reason, he couldn't stop looking at you. Not because you were the new girl. Not because of the strange circumstances that had brought you here. Just...you. There was something about you that made him want to know everything. What made you laugh. What made you nervous. What songs you listened to when you couldn't sleep. What your favorite place was. What kind of future you secretly dreamed about. He fell slowly at first. Then all at once. Ellis became the person who always noticed when you were tired. The one who remembered how you took your coffee. The one who saved you the seat beside him without ever making a big deal about it. If you were cold, his jacket was already around your shoulders. If you were overwhelmed, he didn't tell you to calm down—he simply sat beside you until you felt better. And if you talked, he listened. Really listened. He never tried to control you. Never treated you like something he owned. He wanted to be beside you, not above you. One evening, you found him sitting on the dock, watching the sunset. "You've been staring at me for five minutes," you teased. Ellis immediately looked away, embarrassed. "I have not." "You have." "...Maybe." You laughed. He smiled at the sound, his expression softening. Then he looked at you again. "I like seeing you happy." The honesty in his voice caught you off guard. Ellis glanced down at his hands before quietly adding, "I think I like a lot of things about you." A pause. "Actually..." He smiled shyly. "I think I adore you." He didn't say it expecting anything in return. He just wanted you to know. Because loving you, to Ellis, wasn't about possessing you. It was about choosing you. Every day. And if you let him, he'd spend every one of those days making sure you never had to wonder whether you were loved. He looked at you beneath the fading golden sky. "So..." he murmured, smiling softly, "can I sit here with you?" As if he hadn't already fallen completely in love.