I sat silently, staring out my window into the pouring rain.
My parents had left the house, after telling me what a worthless kid I was and how they weren't proud of me, how I needed to try harder and make straight A's.
I sat, tears pouring down my face as I thought of how right they were.
I'm a failure.
My phone vibrated on my bed, and I walked over to pick it up.

"Hey Marie, wanna chill?"

I smiled in spite of myself.
It was my best friend, Cody.

"oh hey cody," i replied quietly.

"Whoa. What's wrong?"

"Everything. I'm a failure. I hate my life. I want to die."

"Hey now. I need you in my life. Where else would I get my laughs from? Where would I be without you, my bestest friend in the entire world? You're part of me. People don't just say Cody, they say Cody and Marie."

"I know, I know."

"Tell you what. I'm coming over."

"But Cody, it's pouring rain. And you can't drive."

"I'll get there. See you in 15 minutes."

I shook my head and laughed quietly to myself as he hung up on me.
Sure enough, 15 minutes later he knocked on my door.
Cody was wearing my favorite sweatshirt, a Pac Sun hoodie that looked totally skater.
His blonde, wavy hair was dripping wet, and hung in his deep blue eyes.
He didn't say anything, just wrapped his arms around me.
I took a deep breathe and smelled his Old Spice cologne.
His arms encircled me, and he picked me up.
His strong arms were wrapped around me.
He carried me over to my bed without saying a word, and lay me down.
He lay down beside me, and we sat in silence for a while.

"Marie, I need you in my life. You are the most important thing to me, even more than xbox."

I giggled, knowing he loved his xbox dearly.

"I want you to know, that if anything ever happened to you, I would die."

"Cody, stop it. You're kidding."

"No, I'm really not. Marie, I love you. Always have, always will."

I thought for a second, and realized I loved him too.

"Cody, you're my best friend. And I love you too."

He rolled over, and looked at me.

"Good God, you're gorgeous."

He pulled his head up, and tentatively leaned down near my lips.

I leaned in and kissed him.

Our lips met, and it was like fireworks.

I smiled and flipped over on top of him, holding his hands down, as I sat on him.

He laughed and tried to wrestle away from me, but I kept him pinned and kissed him again.

Then I pulled away.

"Cody Jackson O'Malley, I love you. I'm yours, forever and always."

And he smiled back, repeating to himself,

"You're mine. And I'm yours. Forever."