Promise Me One Thing: That You’ll Be Here

I don’t need an expensive house or pretty jewelry. I don’t need date nights every Friday or good morning texts as soon as you wake up. I don’t need every second of your time or to be the center of your universe.

I just want you to promise me you’ll be here.

Please be here for the good: For the nights of laughter, for the mornings rolling over in bed just to kiss each other once more before falling asleep. For the lazy Saturday afternoons, feet up on the couch and snacks all over the coffee table. For the vacations and the work nights, sharing a plate of spaghetti with one fork.

Please promise me that you will be here, present in my life.

Please be here for the bad: For when I can’t pull myself out of bed in the morning, for when my eyelids are heavy from fallen tears. For the days where I can’t seem to make sense of my words or when my heart is aching from the loss of someone I love. For the nights that aren’t easy, when we fight and slam doors and retreat to opposite corners of the house and can’t find a way to understand what’s on each other’s mind.

Please promise me that you’ll still be here, even when our road gets tough.

I don’t need you to be perfect. I don’t need you to always say the right thing or never get mad. I don’t need you to follow a certain set of rules or always be the one to apologize first. I don’t need you to treat me like I’m fragile or turn to someone else when I get on your nerves. I don’t need you to try to be anything other than who you are.

I just need you here.

I need to know that when I give you my heart, you won’t run. That when I tell you I’m falling in love with you, you’ll pull me closer, not push me away. I promise I will treat you right and stand by you and for you, if you just promise me this one thing: that you won’t leave.

I need to know that you’ll talk to me when you’re upset, that you’ll lean on me when you’re feeling lost, that we’ll be each other’s backbones through this messy thing called life.

Please promise to be the last voice I hear before falling asleep and the one I wake up to in the morning. Please promise that even if our paths lead us in two different directions that we’ll find our way back to one another, that we’ll somehow make it work.

Please promise to love me, even when I seem unlovable.
Because I will do the same for you, a thousand times over.

I promise.