So What Do You Say? (contest entry)

I'm gonna skip the intro. It would seem too formal, and I don't think that's really appropriate. I mean, we already know each other, right? 'Cause we're friends. And we've been friends for a good long time now.1

Which is probably why I can't control myself. It's hard to hold it all in, pretend that I'm not torn apart inside every time I speak to you. Every time I see that you're online, every time I hear your name, every time I think of you. But as painful as it is, I don't want it to stop. I don't want it to go away. 2

I care too much. Funny, how that happens, but it's true. It surprises me. I never thought that I could feel this way for someone, not after being hurt so many times in the past. But with you, I guess anything is possible. You bring out the best in me.3

And the worst. Whenever we walk around together, I'm overcome by this barely suppressible urge to take your hand. To tell you how I feel about you. To see if maybe, just maybe, you feel the same way. Then, of course, I end up mentally slapping myself across the face. What a stupid idea, right? What am I thinking? Doing either of those things could ruin everything. Everything.4

But it could make my life amazing, too. That's why I'm so torn up. Why I'm tormented every time you're near me. Why I wake up in the middle of the night, crying, because my dreams are too good to be true. You're my heartache, and I love you.5

So what do you say?6

-A friend