Two weeks passed. Abby went back to work, and Brian continued to work on his songs. They only talked three times for a short time. The tension between them was so thick that it could be cut with a knife. It was too awkward. She missed him. He missed her. He was finding it hard to breathe.

“Don’t know what to say, I never meant to feel this way…”

Sitting in the dark, silent room, Brian found himself in a loosing battle between head and heart. Abby was again on his mind. The kiss, that one incident was haunting him, teasing him, torturing him on the inside. Abby was… Abby was like no other woman he’d ever met before in his life. Not even Elizabeth was comparing to her, and that was scaring the holy hell out of him. Brian swore he would never feel this way about another woman, ever. Now that he was bombarded by those intense feelings, he didn’t know what to do with himself, or with Abby.

“What can I do to make you mine, falling so hard, so fast this time…”

Brian was falling, falling faster than he had for Elizabeth, falling harder than he knew how to handle. In his heart, he wanted Abby more than anything, but his head was telling him that he needed more time. She knew about Elizabeth. He had poured his heart out to her so she knew exactly what he was going through… meaning she knew he wasn’t ready for another relationship yet. But he wanted to be with her regardless of what he was ready for. He needed her.

“I cannot pretend, that we can still be friends…”

Abby was happy with a friendship, but he couldn’t do that. He couldn’t handle only being friends with someone that he felt such an incredible longing for. That would bring about a very unpleasant awkwardness, and Brian did not like those situations. Standing, he stared out the dark window into the night looking for strength or guidance from whatever was out there. He needed an answer. He needed something, anything.

“Don’t want to be alone tonight…”

He clicked on a lamp, letting a little bit of light into the room. He sat back down on the couch, phone in hand just waiting. Maybe if he sat long enough, she would be the one to call him so he wouldn’t have to do it, but he knew that wouldn’t happen. He’d find some reason or another to get up eventually. Being alone like that, he could picture her face easily, hear her laugh, he could almost even smell her sweet scent. He let out a big sigh and turned on the phone. It was now or never.

“I hear your voice, and I start to tremble…”

Brian’s hands started to shake when he heard Abby say hello. What was he supposed to say now? He had suddenly forgotten how to speak. Or was he talking but not realizing it? His brain was surrounded by fog, and a huge lump formed in his throat.

“Oh I want to say this right, and it has to be tonight, just need you to know…”

“Abby, it’s Brian. There’s something really important I need to talk to you about. Do you think you could come over here or I could come over there?”

“I can come over there. Brian, are you okay?”

“Yes and no. I just need to see you and soon.”

“Alright. I’ll be over there as soon as I can. Just hope that I don’t get lost like before.”

“Abby?”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you.”

He could almost see her smile as she responded. “You’re more than welcome.”

Brian hung up the phone and felt his stomach already turning into knots. Now all he had to do was wait. Wait for her to come, wait for him to get the right words out to her, wait to either be accepted or rejected. Rejected… not accepted, turned down… what if she turned him down? That thought made him feel a lot better about the whole thing. He didn’t even know when or how he fell in love with her, but he did, and if she didn’t feel the same he feared that his heart might not recover a second time.

“What did I say, what did you do, how did I fall in love with you…”