It was simple. Supposedly.

Tell him you love him. Wait for a response.

Pretty cut and dry, really.

Except for one thing. She didn't know what the response would be. And that, above anything else, was stopping her from opening her mouth and letting her heart do the talking for once, rather than her brain.

She really wished she could. But it wasn't easy opening your heart; once you do, you can't exactly have it back, at least not in one piece.

So she was scared.

At least she had options; options she'd weighed heavily for days. She wrote a million lists with two columns on each. One for pros, the other for cons. Her best friend in the world pointed out that there were far more pros than cons, but that didn't help her much.

Everything, this whole `love' thing most of all, was easier said than done. Maybe not for everybody. In fact, probably not for everybody. But for her it was different. She was different.

"Calley?" She snapped back to earth just as the two fingers snapped in front of her face. Her eyes focused on the guy in front of her. Curious blue eyes, cute smile, huge head of curly blond hair.

"You okay?"

Calley smiled at him. "I've gotta tell you something."

He shifted slightly on the couch and fixed her with a steady gaze, his lips quirked up at the ends in a smile she knew better than her own. "Go for it."

"I---" Her voice faltered. It was like a movie where you're routing for the two leads to get together and you're screaming at your TV, `JUST TELL HIM ALREADY!' Only it's different in real life. In her life. It's not as easy as it sounds, just to tell him already. Even when the words were perched on the tip of her tongue, ready to push their way out of her mouth.

Aaron tipped his head to the side and gently tucked some hair behind her ear. "What? Do I have something in my teeth?"

Calley laughed, and suddenly it was like everything fell into place. As cheesy as it sounds, she felt like the final puzzle piece had just miraculously appeared in her hand and been fixed in its appropriate spot on the board, amongst its fellows.

"I love you."

There. That wasn't so hard was it? Surprisingly easy, in fact.

But now came the hard part. The waiting. The watching as his facial expression turns from one of amusement immediately to shock and surprise and then finally, just when she thought she was going to crumple up and die, his face softens and he grins at her.

"I love you too."

And just like that, the whole love thing really was simple.

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