ENDING

For years, I had wondered how I got so lucky.

That afternoon, sitting beside Luke with an old letter between us, I stopped asking.

There had never been some hidden joke waiting to be revealed.

There had never been a bet.

There had never been a dare.

There had never been a secret reason Luke had chosen me.

There was simply a man who had noticed my face, noticed my heart, and decided he wanted to know both.

And there was a woman who had spent far too many years believing that someone else’s love couldn’t possibly be as real as her insecurities.

I looked at Luke.

“I should have believed you sooner.”

He smiled.

“You’re here now.”

And somehow, that was enough.

Because sometimes the person who loves us sees something in us long before we’re capable of seeing it ourselves.

And sometimes the hardest thing isn’t finding someone who thinks you’re beautiful.

It’s finally believing them.