"Goodnight, Kris," She replied to him and giggled lightly to herself, once again taking in some more oxygen in her lungs, still feeling the effects from the kiss just moments ago. She hadn't expected anything like that, and so depite her better judgement, she replied. She decided to be a little bit more spontaneous and go for it.

What can go wrong, right?

- - - - - - - - - - - - - 
One Year Later

For the first half of their relationship, Kris would always try his hardest to go visit her in Miami from where he lived in Texas, which was a little over a thousand miles. It was a twenty hour car drive and three hour plane ride. Either one always proved to be difficult since the gas itself was just as costly as the plane ride to get there. Min would offer being the one to travel but Kris didn't like the idea of her spending her money or traveling alone. Besides, he had a very male-driven way of thinking when it came to that.   The first time he visited, a month into their relationship, he surprised her at her job with a large bouquet of flowers. He made her cry, but for the first time, it was tears of joy she cried. Pure genuine happiness over the man she had begun to slowly fall in love with in the short amount of time they had been together. They had managed to balance it all out. Sometimes, distance proved to be difficult, and the pain of their separation gave them a hard time. But whenever they did finally see each other, it was all worth it. The wait always made their reunion that much more special. Three months into their relationship, he told her he loved her and the story of their love continued to fill chapters.   But after  a while, his visits became scarce, almost to the point of nonexistent and she wondered if something was wrong. Unfortunately, whenever she brought it up, he always avoided the topic completely and Min never thought to question it. Because money was tight and she knew he couldn't always afford to go visit her. But what would strike her as strange was that he would always insist she shouldn't be the one to visit.   "Min, it seems the distance has become a lot harder than I thought. Things have gotten too complicated and I don't think it's gonna continue to work."   Min reread the last line over and over again, slowly comprehending its meaning. It all made sense, she concluded. Everything. And it occurred to her that maybe he finally found someone who was actually worth his time. Someone worthy to be called beautiful.   "It's okay. It was fun while it lasted," And that's how she replied.   After that, nothing more happened. Time moved slowly and shortly after their breakup, her friends grew more attentive, often writing her words of wisdom and assuring that she was well off and too good for him to begin with if he couldn't see her worth.   Though she appreciated their words, she knew they weren't fooling anyone. She knew better that it was always he who was too good for her.    - - - - - - - - - - - - -    "You still have pictures, with him, up?" Suzy asked one day as she scrolled through Min's profile and saw the pictures of her and Kris still up.   Min continued washing the dishes in her house, knowing all too well the pictures Suzy was referring to and simply shrugged. "What can I say? They were beautiful memories."   You're beautiful.   And there it was again... that word. That one word that she had always long to hear so much, now cursed her. The tears begin to well as she watched the bubbles forming in the sink, a memory occurring to her of one of the many times he visited.    "You're beautiful," He whispered softly in her ear as he came up and hugged her from behind while she washed the dishes from the dinner they just had. His chin rested against her bare shoulder as he placed a gentle kiss along it. He always managed to hold up to his promises and not once did he ever forget to tell Min how beautiful she was. He wanted her to know. He didn't want to leave a single doubt in her mind that she wasn't and he would say it until she, herself, believed it.   She choked back a sob and Suzy immediately went to stand by her side, placing a comforting hand on her back as she watched her silently.   "I'm not crying because I'm sad," She assured as she looked to her friend with a sad smile. "I'm just embarrassed. I got too caught up in fairytales."   Suzy's expression fell, hurting for her older friend. "Min-"    "It's okay, Suzy," She smiled again before using her hand to wipe off the tears and turning to continue with the dishes. "I'm okay."   - - - - - - - - - - - - -    After a while, comments slowly started to fill up her profile page, after not updating it for several weeks. Incessant comments of comfort and questions of whether or not she was doing well, had her constantly replying back with a simple, "I'm okay."   "Hey, Min. Just writing to check up. How are you?"   "I'm okay."   "Hey, Minnie. If you need anyone, just know you can talk to me anytime."   "I'm okay. But thanks anyways."   Similar situations like this continued, where she would always try to cut the conversation short.    She didn't need help and she didn't want it. She just wanted to be left alone.   She wanted to move on.   She wanted to heal.   The loneliness, the constant need for love and comfort, left an empty whole inside of her. And eventually, after struggling for months with the darkness that threatened to consume her, it all became too much.   "I'm sorry," She wrote in conjunction to her final post, before finally pulling the plug on her social profile and the people who reminded her too much of the hurt.   - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
Five Months Later   The moment curiosity took over and I checked her profile, I knew it would all be over for me. I missed her. I missed her like hell. So much that I thought it would honestly kill me.    I never wanted to do it. I would've never con