Changed By You

He was so kind.

The day after my thirteenth birthday, Lu Han joined me at the wall again for a bit. We talked and he even invited me to play soccer with his friends. I declined though, for it was already a bit overwhelming just to talk to Lu Han, never mind play a game with him and six other people.

He talked to me every day since then. He even sat with me at lunch. One day, he brought me over to his friend’s lunch table and introduced me to them. I learned that he was friends with other first year students and even some second year students. While I never befriended them, I definitely learned who they were and became acquainted. By the end of the school year, Lu Han had gotten me to open up just a little.

When the summer months came, I still continued to see Lu Han. He would message me online and we would even meet places. I was falling in love with him, and I was scared to do so. He didn’t know me, and I was scared to tell him about my screwed up family. It wasn’t until the first of August that my life changed forever, when he invited me to dinner at his favorite restaurant.

“This place is so small,” I said, entering the small shack with Lu Han. He smiled as we managed to snag the table in the corner just as an older couple was leaving.

“But the food is so delicious,” he insisted, “Trust me, the cramped quarters are worth it when you taste it.”

I smiled, “Ok, I trust you.”

Lu Han grinned, “Good.” We ordered our food and sat in silence for a few minutes. I was a bit worried, as Lu Han was never the silent type. I was usually the silent one while he always talked to me. Sometimes, he annoyed me with how much he spoke without stopping. But even so, I still loved him.

“Are you ok?” I asked him after the silence started to kill me. And to think, just a few months ago, I enjoyed the silence that I lived in. But now, being with a silent Lu Han just made me uncomfortable and nervous.

“What? Oh, yeah,” Lu Han said, and I saw him fidget in his seat. I frowned.

“What’s wrong?” I asked him, nervously. I didn’t want him to think I was prying.

He sighed, “I’m just nervous.”

Now I was confused, “Why?”

He smiled at me and leaned forward a bit, “If I told you a secret, do you promise to keep it?”

I leaned forward as well, unknowingly going closer to him so that I could hear him better over the loud restaurant, “Of course.”

He nodded and stood up and lean across the table and whisper in my ear, “I like you, Huang Mei.”

I felt my heart skip a beat as he moved back into his seat and smiled at me. I stared at him with wide eyes, trying to register what he just told me.

“Do you like me?” he asked, and for once I saw how shy he was. He was looking at his hands, which were fidgety on the table. I looked down at my own hands, folded in my lap, and tried to hide the smile on my face. But, in the end, I couldn’t stop it from growing larger.

I placed my folded hands on the table and nodded my head in response to his question. I glanced up just in time to see his face light up. That was a moment that I will never forget – his happy face is forever imprinted in my memories. When he smiled, it was as if the entire restaurant grew quiet and he shined so bright that it was almost blinding. He reached over the table and placed his hand on top of mine, slipping my hands apart and entwining his fingers in mine. I smiled at the contact and looked up into his eyes, reading his happiness in them. I hoped that he could see my own happiness in my own eyes.

I don’t know how long we stayed there, but all I remember is Lu Han suddenly releasing my hand and the waiter placing our food in front of us. We thanked him and dug in.

“Is it good?” Lu Han asked as I took a bite of my meat. I grinned and held my thumb up, nodding my head.

“Amazing,” I told him. He grinned.

“I told you,” he laughed, eating some of the rice.

“I never doubted you,” I replied, chuckling. I saw him smile at me and felt his gaze rest on me for a bit longer, but I kept staring at my food.

“Thank you,” Lu Han said, suddenly.

I finished taking a sip of my water and looked at him, “For what?”

He smiled, “For returning my feelings.”

I blushed and picked at my food with my chopsticks, “You don’t have to thank me for that.”

“Yes I do. Because if you rejected them…I don’t know what I would have done.”

“You would have been fine without me,” I told him, thinking about how I would have still been a lonely person without him. But I know he’s much stronger than I am.

He shook his head, “Since I first met you, I felt connected to you. I don’t know what it was exactly, but when you wrote your name on that stone wall…I just felt like I had to get to know you.” I smiled at him, feeling special. He was able to make me feel so special, and I was so happy to have met him.

“And I’m so glad that I did,” he finished, reaching across the table and grabbing my hand. I squeezed his hand and smiled at him.

“Me too,” I told him. His smile widened and I felt like I could die right then and there and be happy.

Since that day, we became an official couple. Even though he moved on to the senior high school and I was left behind at the junior middle school, we continued dating. He introduced me to every friend he made, and I even made friends with his friends. I was happy, and he made me happy.

Looking back on our time together, I see how much I grew with Lu Han. I grew from a scared, introverted, anti-social child into a happy, confident teenager. I was able to talk to people and I was able to make relationships. He changed me. He helped me see the light in the world. I was able to look beyond my past and family issues and see the beauty of living. Even Lu Han was able to look beyond my flaws and insecurities and see what was good inside of me. Lu Han was brave enough to approach me and help me open up.

I don’t think he even realized how much he changed me – how much he helped me. Without him, I would have been so lost. Thankfully, he found me, and he somehow managed to pull me out of the deep, dark hole that I was thrown into as a child. I never knew that there was such a beautiful world beyond that hole, and Lu Han was able to show me that.

He was so kind, and I loved him so much. With him, I was finally happy.

Third chapter - done! And it's not a Demi Lovato song! Haha so yeah, I don't have much to say here. I hope you guys like it and thank you for reading, commenting, and subscribing! It truly means a lot to me that people like this story! Thank you so much~! ^_^ ♥