The Love Letters 「P7」

「Saturday」




She stood outside of his front door, feeling brave and confident. She pounded at Asia Buckyfield's door and hollered, "OPEN UP! OPEN UP YOU JERK!"

Within moments, the door flung open and Asia stood there in his trademark bathrobe and sleepy demeanor. As soon as he saw Talia, he did the unthinkable to anyone; he came forward and wrapped her in a tight hug. Talia froze, the box in between her chest and Asia crushing her. "Hey, you - !" She pushed him back and glared, even more furious than she had been. Her hands were shaking now and she wasn't sure what she wanted to say, but she knew that if any of her friends were here, they would tell her to fight back.

"Talia! You came back," Asia said, with a relieved look on his face. "I'm so happy you came back. Thank God! I thought something had happened to you after you left that day..." he put his hand on her cheek which resulted in Talia raising her eyes and hand to slap it away.

"Don't touch me!"

Asia stopped and stared. And then he seemed to remember. "Oh, that's right. I was being a total jerk that day, wasn't I?" He laughed it off and then said gently, "But I was wrong. I'm so sorry. Will you please forgive me?"

Talia's throat became dry, but she said quite defiantly merely seconds later, "No, I will not!" she glared at him as her hands clutched onto her box of Asia's stuff with an iron grip.

"Just give me another chance, babe!" Asia said, stepping forward.

Talia instinctively winced and took a step back herself and Asia noticed. He stopped and seem to give her a sad look. "I know what I did was wrong, Talia. And that bimbo, she's gone...she's gone now!"

"Are all the girls you play with just your toys? You know what, just....just forget it," Talia said, remembering all the things that Rick had said to her this past week. "Here," she shoved the box into his arms and he stumbled backwards, surprised at what was happening. "This is your stuff. I thought that I'd return it." And then she turned from Asia to begin walking away...only to have him grab her wrist to stop her.

"Talia! Wait!" he suddenly glared at her. "Did you...did you find somebody...else?"

When she didn't answer, he became more persistent. "Answer me! You found somebody else, didn't you?" his grip on her became tighter and Talia flinched at how much of a grip he had. "Who is it, Talia? Who is it? It's not that...." he suddenly became red. "It's not him, isn't it? That Rick kid who's friends with Selena, isn't it? It's that pathetic little - "

"OW! LET GO! It hurts!" With a swooping pull, Talia pulled free from his grasp. "It's none of your business," she said angrily at her ex-boyfriend, who seemed even more surprised by her sudden confidence. For him, it was like she did a total 180 and completely changed.

Without bothering to look back, Talia left Asia and the dumbfounded look on his face, as he called back for her. For once in her life, Talia knew that she had done the right thing.

And she knew Rick would be proud.









"Let me see it!" Selena said, grabbing the letter out of Talia's hands and preceding to read it. "I think he's an absolute god," Selena said, giving it back to her friend who smoothed the letter out with pride. "And you obviously like it," she stretched. "Go on. Read it. I know you want to."

Talia turned red and read the seventh letter for the first time.


「Unless
         I die and leave this world before you, I don't think I could quite let you go. You've become too attached to my thoughts, words, and feelings and I'm not quite sure what I would do if you suddenly disappeared from my life. I mean for this last letter to you to be almost as meaningful as before if not more. This whole week in Rome, you have not left my thoughts. Even if I am having a tough time here, it's alright, as long as you're not having one. I would rather take the pain for you and suffer instead in place of you. With that being said, you're not just any girl to me...you are someone who I can see laughing and smiling with me every day until I'm not around. Of course, if you decline....I won't argue with it. Because if you're not happy, then I won't be happy. But if you accept me, I promise that I will work furiously and endlessly so that we can be together...happily without conflict. I want to protect you, cherish you, and be with you until our lives have stopped and ceased to exist. I'm sorry this last letter is so loaded...but I feel that through letters I can express myself better. I'm sure Zico has been laughing at me for how unmanly this all is. But to each his own. I just want to do what my heart wants, so use that awesome brain you have and figure out the mystery I have prepared for you....this puzzle...I will...wait for your answer.

Please wait for my return.

「Reminiscing,
         Rick



Talia was almost on the verge of tears and she snuffled.

"What?" Selena said, alarmed. "What is it?"

"H-h-how could h-h-he say that t-t-t-to me?" she cried as her friend threw a few tissues at her to stop the waterworks. "He obviously l-l-likes me a lot and I...I haven't d-d-done anything f-f-for him!"

"That's a good thing then, isn't?" Selena rolled her eyes. "God, Zico was right. You guys totally fit each other..."

"Of course it's a good thing!" Talia blew her nose quite loudly. "I've never been more happy in my life..."

Selena cleared her throat. "Well....why don't we figure it out then?"

"Figure what out?"

"The puzzle, you idiot!"

"Oh, r-right!"

Selena took the box of letters and set them down on the living room floor. She and Talia took the rest of the afternoon to try and figure it out. Talia, thinking that there was some type of inscription on the back of them, kept turning them over and folding them in odd places to see if something would show up. Selena, on the other hand, threw her hands up in the air and sat back to think as her friend hastily ran through ideas and then tried to test them out. In the end, she, too, was defeated.

"I don't get it! What's the mystery?" Talia said, wringing her hands up in the air. "Rick isn't the complicated type of person....he's so amazing and all...him and his wording...but not that complex."

"Wait..." Selena closed her eyes for a second with her hand on her forehead, "Say that again."

"Wait, what?" Talia slumped back down onto the couch. "All I'm saying is that he's really not that complicated and..."

Selena sat straight up and dove for the letters. "That's right, Rick isn't the complicated type at all, right?" She looked at each of the letters in hand and then laughed. "But he sure is a genius though, isn't he?" She slid the very first two letters towards Talia. "Do you see anything weird about them?"

Talia squinted her eyes at the letters. "No...not really."

"What about the format of the letters? You don't find anything weird...at all?"

"What is there to find weird?"

Selena groaned. "Okay, just look," she pointed at the first word in the first letter that had an indentation to it. "Besides how great it is, don't you notice how weird the first words always are?" She pointed specifically at the first word. "It's just an 'I', and then he starts off at a new line."

"Okay....so?"

Selena rolled her eyes. "The second letter, first word again, and then starts off on another line. Why not finish what he was saying or start it off with a 'dear Talia' or something? Don't tell me you don't find that weird at all, or I swear, I will strangle you..."

Talia thought for a second and then compared all the words in his letters. "I, little, one, very, every, you, of, unless..." she scratched her head. "Yeah, it's a bit weird, but I just thought it was his writing style..."

The two of them sat in silence for a few more minutes until Selena muttered under her breath, "It's I love you."

"What?" Talia said, turning to look at her friend.

"It says 'I love you'."

"W-what??"

"ERRRGGH! Right here, you idiot! It clearly says ' I LOVE YOU ' !" Selena shoved the letters into her friend's face and pointed out exactly where it said so. "It's the first letter of each word on each letter, you idiot! 'I, Little, One, Very, Every, You, Of, Unless' spells I Love You!"

And upon further notice, Talia realized it was true.

「I
「Little
「One
「Very
「Every
「You
「Of
「Unless



"Oh my....goodness," Talia said, sitting back and turning a bright red. "Does it really....say that? Are my eyes wrong?" She placed her hand on her pounding heart and felt her face start to burn. "That...has to be a mistake. My brain is clearly misreading all of this.."

"Yeah, you have to be," Selena said frustrated. "There's definitely something wrong with your brain to have missed all of this. The last letter of each signature too. Read it."

"The signature?" Talia said, regaining herself to sit up and see what she was talking about.

"For the first letter, he ended with 'From with an indentation again...the second letter ended with an 'Overjoyed, the third was a 'Remember...the fourth..."

Talia zoned out of what her friend was saying and read the signatures to herself quietly. "If it's the same format as the first thing...then it says....it says...." her hands shook as she held the last letter in her hands. The seventh letter.

"What, what does it say?"

"It says...it says FOREVER!"

Selena took the letters and set them down on top of each other to see if it was true. "It does..."


「From
「Overjoyed
「Remember
「Eternally
「Very
「Exceptionally
「Reminiscing


"Oh my god, that is a work of art," Selena said. "And really not that complicated at all," Selena smiled. "I'm sure you'll say yes and accept him though, won't you? I mean of course you wouldn't dare to turn a guy like that down after - hey. What's wrong with you? Stop CRYING!"

Talia had burst into tears. "This...this has never happened before! He's such a jerk! How...how could he make me cry like this?!" and then she grabbed Selena and shook her. "HE'S SUCH A JERK! I love him so much that I...."

Selena sighed and patted her friend's shoulder. "Okay, okay...it's okay..."

DING DONG! 

"Is someone coming over?" Selena asked, confused as she detached herself from Talia who now lay on the floor in a mess.

"N-n-no...but sometimes I get more mail..."

"Er...why don't you stay here and clean up your face, Talia. I'll go get the door - seriously! Get your act together, kid!"

As Selena left to go get the door, Talia couldn't help but notice that even Selena had adopted a bit of Zico's language. She sat straight up, and used the tissues next to her to clean up her sopping wet face. She blew her nose a few times and then took a deep breath.

"Talia?" She heard her friend say from down the stairs. "I think you might want to see this."

"What? Is somebody here for me?"

"No, nobody's here, but - "

Talia ran down the stairs to see what the commotion was about, and her heart nearly stopped when she saw it. Sitting right at the front of her door was a gigantic box with an elegant bow on the top of it. Selena was standing next to it, and the box itself nearly came to her shoulder. "There's this thing, too...." Selena detached a large card that was tied to the box and handed it to Talia. The inside of it, had the letters that she and Selena had been analyzing for the past few minutes blown up in size...indentations in all.


「I     「L「O「V「E     「Y「O「U
「F「O「R「E「V「E「R


"At least we were right..." Selena said, checking out the box. Then she stopped. "Talia....come here..." As she said this, Zico came out of nowhere and nearly pounced on her.

"HEY!"

"AUUGGHH!!" Selena kicked Zico in the shin. "What the hell are you trying to pull?!"

"C'mere for a second," he whispered to Selena as he dragged her off to the side, limping because she had kicked him.

"What? What is it..."




Talia went over to the box, not expecting anything. It was a pretty sea blue, and the ribbon was extremely elegant looking. She realized then that nothing had to be untied to get the box to open. It was a giant lid, so she placed her fingers under the slot of the box and used all of her strength to push it upwards, and as soon as the lid was pushed off and out of the way...


Somebody stood up from the inside of the box, his arms out, nearly giving Talia a heart attack.

"Surprise!"

He stood there, with his sweet demeanor, his physical attractiveness shining through with his semi-dirty blonde hair that had an essence of sandy like color which was swept upwards. He sent Talia the charming grin that he always had, and she melted. In that very spot, possibly for the fifth or sixth time today, she burst into tears.

Rick looked alarmed, and Selena and Zico exchanged looks of surprise in the corner as Talia ran forward and hid her face in his chest, using her fists to gently, but angrily pound him. "Y-y-you j-j-jerk! H-h-how could y-you do this t-t-to me?!" The tears streamed down her face and she felt the fabric of his shirt start to get wet. "Rick," she bawled. "Rick!"

He put his arms around her and gave her a tight squeeze. "You're so silly....what are you crying for? I thought you would be happy to see me. Should I just leave?"

"No, I - I am!" She looked up at him as she separated her face from his chest that smelled just like Italian Strawberry Soda. "I was just...I missed you....a lot..." She wiped the tears from her eyes. "Why are you back so early?"

"I know it was sudden," he said with much thought. "But I couldn't wait to see you, so I flew in early," he paused. "Unless you want me to fly back right now...I technically could..." he pretended to check his watch until Talia wrapped her arms around him again and clung to him like a vulture.

"No....P-please don't leave me again..."

Zico and Selena came forward. "So you got what you wanted, looks like," Zico said, his hand in Selena's. "Your prince came for you after all."

"And mine did too," Selena said, putting her head on Zico's shoulder. "I was dying in there, Zico....I thought you guys would never come!"

Talia froze and then detached herself from Rick. "Wait. You guys KNEW?!"

Zico rolled his eyes. "Of course we did," he laughed. "If it wasn't for us, do you think that this so-called man over here would have been able to pull this off?"

Talia looked over at her best friend, who had somehow managed to fool her as well. "You knew too? An hour ago, you knew how to solve it?"

"Well, of course! I only said something so that you would know the right direction to go! If I hadn't said anything, you would still be in there right now trying to dissect information that couldn't process in your brain!"

Zico snickered. "Yup, that's my girl."

Talia looked back at Rick who merely shrugged. "It's true! They knew beforehand that I had planned all this. And my Uncle too..." he pouted at Talia. "If it wasn't for us, my Uncle wouldn't have gotten into an accident, so you better be grateful."

Talia put two and two together. "That was your UNCLE?!"

"The mail man? Yup, that was him alright."

Now it all made sense...the uncanny resemblance, his gentle appreciation of Italian soda, his silent agreement on his nephew being with her....

"Is he alright though?" Talia said to Rick. "I was concerned before I found out, but now that I know that he's your Uncle I'm even more concerned - "

"He's fine," Rick said, brushing the hair out of her eyes. "I saw him earlier today, and he's recovering well. He wished me luck, and..." he looked over at his two other friends who gave him a thumbs up. "But why are you asking so many questions? Don't you think I should get an answer too?"

"An answer?" Talia said. "An answer...to what? I already solved your puzzle, and I got the answer right...it was written in the card and...." Talia looked over at Selena and Zico who had both facepalmed in unison. When she looked back at Rick, he was no longer there, but instead, down on one knee with his hand holding one of her hands. In his left hand sat a small box that was already open, a beautiful diamond ring gleaming in the sunlight, just begging to be accepted. "R-Rick!"

"Talia....you know how I feel about you. Will you marry me?"

"Say yes," Selena whispered to herself, feeling so happy for her friend.

"Aw, not you too," Zico said, pouting at Selena before she smiled at him and pecked him on the cheek. He turned back to look at his two other friends. "But what the hell. Go for it."

The sky was pink and amorous as the birds sat in the next tree over, singing a lovely tune in the backdrop of the surroundings. A light breeze blew past and a wonderful silence filled the air, a silence that had been waiting and waiting for an answer.

"Yes," Talia said, beaming as tears of happiness rolled down her face. "I'll say yes right now, and yes forever."

And then Rick slid the beautiful ring onto Talia's finger, stood up, wiped the tears off of her face, leaned forward, and gave her a much deserving kiss.







°°°°°「P7 END」•••••


♥♥♥♥♥♥♥The Love Letters END♥♥♥♥♥♥♥




(and the end of this saga and characters until further notice)