"Please," he begged.  "Just give me another chance!"

"If I recall, you broke up with me," she replied coldly.

"You know why I did that. And, you were fine with it at the time."

"Because you had a good reason."

"You accepted it then, why not now?"

"No. I accepted the temporary break up because of your six month trip to Florida while your dad was on business. I didn't accept the weeks you've been back and barely glanced at me."

He winced.

"I had a reason for that too."

"Oh? Do tell."

"The day I got back I tried to come and see you, but your brother met me at the door and told me he didn't want me to see you anymore."

"And you listened to him over me?  I thought I meant more to you than that."

"He's my best friend, you know that!"

"So I come second.  I guess now I know where I stand."

"That's not true!  It's just, he also told me you didn't even want to see me anymore, but told him to tell me that it was because of him.  Just today I found out the truth."

"So you just gave up on me?  What happened to forever?"

"I didn't talk to you because I love you.  I was just respecting what I thought were your wishes.  I know now that it was wrong.  Please, can you just forgive me?"

She considers what he said.  His tone of voice and his facial expression had been so real at the moment he asked for forgiveness.  Then, all of her memories of the times they'd spent together crept in.

The day she was in a competition and lost, but he gave her one of his own various trophies.

The time she broke her leg and he always helped her when she needed it.

One of their first dates, where they went to a movie and he held her hand the whole time.

When they'd carved their initials into the side of a concrete tunnel, surrounded by a heart.

Their first kiss under the night sky.

The school dance where the two had danced together the whole night.

The first time he'd told her he loved her.

Finally, she looked up at him.

"Yes," she whispered.  "I forgive you."

He smiled at her, and she smiled back.

"Why?" he asked.

"Because," she replied, "I love you."

They were only three words, but they contained so much power.

He smiled bigger then, truly happy, and said the words she'd been longing to hear him say for so long.

"I love you too."