As I stood precariously at the edge of the giant rock that jutted out over the lake a cool breeze whispered through the trees making the leaves rustle and sending a spasm of goose bumps across my skin. I squeezed my eyes shut and took a deep breath. I could hear shouts and splashing as several of my friends took the dive before me, but still I did not dare open my eyes. Soon the voices of my friends became distant and I assumed I was now alone on the top of the rock. The only one too afraid to take the plunge into the water below. I felt a hand on my arm and opened my eyes, blinking in surprise. My gaze went directly to where the hand was in contact with my skin and slowly followed the crevices of the arm up to the shoulder and finally the face, which I recognized as Nathan’s. He stood beside me not saying a word, just staring at me with those same blue eyes whose gaze I’d had such a hard time breaking the very first time I’d met him.

Nathan had reached out his hand to shake mine and our eyes locked as he introduced himself. I was transfixed by the crystal blue hue of his eyes and the sense that he was confiding something in me through his intense stare. He was all I had been able to think about the rest of the day. The fact that after such a brief exchange he was able to have such a complete hold on me frightened me. Nathan quickly became an important link in my circle friends, but I held back from getting close to him, afraid of the way he made me feel. The idea of love was terrifying to me. My parents had seemed to have the perfect storybook romance and marriage until they suddenly divorced when I was nine, leaving me with a fear of becoming too close to anyone. I didn’t want to think I could share so much with some one just to have them leave me.

Now he reached down and took my hand as he led me to the edge of the rock I had subconsciously backed away from. He squeezed my hand and I was finally able to understand what he had been saying with the look that had sent tingles down my spine on that first day, and the same one he was giving me now. His brow furrowed and eyes locked on mine, warm and unblinking. It was his way of saying “I won’t let you go”. I took one last deep breath, squeezed his hand in return and we jumped from the rock hand in hand. As we were falling through the air, stomach in throat, I realized that love is all about taking a risk. You could always sink or swim, but you’ll never know until you try, you just have to take the leap.