This is a story about love, my love story. But mine is not blessed with a fairy tale ending.

Once upon a time a girl sat at her computer on a warm summers night. Her name was Emiko and she was taking a leap of the heart to tell a boy she had known for a while her true feelings, a boy named Lester. Shaking she held her breath awaiting his response; she had been rejected  again and again in her past, would he follow suit of so many before him? He responded in kind to her feelings and tears suddenly spilt from her eyes. Amanda, one of her best friends, wrapped her in a hug wondering what was wrong. But she didn't cry out of sadness but more out of relief and joy. She was promptly booted from the computer so her friend might speak for a bit with Lester. With a little convincing from Amanda the boy asked Emiko out, for had there been no interruption the revelation of truths would have stayed as that and not moved onto change anything. He was shy and it took all his courage to ask her to be his even though he knew she liked him. The small detail of a few thousand miles of separation did not stop her from saying yes.
They spoke as often as they could. The only thing they could share were words so these they wrote often. Distance was hard, no lying about that. Touch was a big part of her life and her interactions with those whom she knew and the lack of it with Lester, someone whom she died to touch, was painful to say the least. After an month of dating him she knew with certainty that she loved this boy, with a love she had never felt before. A love that consumed her heart, mind, and soul. Everyday that love deepened. He truly loved her back, but he unlike her, had been in love once. She worried that perhaps he wouldn't love her as much as he had previously. Emiko did not, however, give voice to this because it was utterly ridiculous in her mind.
It was a beautiful thing, this love they shared. Speaking for hours on end, detailing their lives to one another, spilling secrets none knew. Good times and laughter shared, bad times suffered through together. Days did come when she felt as if she could no longer stand not having him near, she would cry, gasp, and ache for him with all her being. She pulled through, her friends helping her on this journey. Lester did truly and utterly bring her the most amount of joy she had ever thought possible, she thanked God with all her heart for him. His simply told truth of what he thought would brighten her days and lift any sorrows, as if he could see into her mind and knew the exact words to heal her. A worry of hers was lifted from such an occasion, he mentioned that he had thought that he had loved once before, but this love was so much more that it blew him away.
A few precious times they spoke on the phone, reveling in eachother's voice. Still to this day she can remember how sweet his voice, how sexy his accent. Other times they could not speak at all, with the written word or not. Then, after months, they planned together his trip to the United Sates, to her. Both were filled with excitement, neither could wait, they would be together on Valentines Day. Life interrupted, he could not make it, she wept and told him that it was okay, she could wait forever for him. Turns out life was crueler than fist thought; while she had her first happy Valentines Day out on a date with another best friend, Alison. He gave up. Being apart broke him, so he chose a route that was easier for him. Lester fell in love with a local girl choosing her over Emiko. He knew though, he couldn't ever love her as intensely as he loved Emiko.
Her life shattered beneath her her feet as her greatest fear came to life, loving so deeply to become so broken. They choose to stay friends, for her it wasn't quite a choice, there was nothing else she could do. How could she live without Lester in her life? Ripped to pieces she barely struggled through the days knowing she still loved him, and she always would.