24 roses. 24 days filled with declarations of love. 24 moments where life will mark her as mine. I’ve loved Anahi Pratt since she moved in next door at the age of twelve. With her knobby knees and a mouthful of braces she made my heart thump harshly inside my pre-pubescent chest. One look into the greenest eyes I’d ever seen and I was hooked for life. Owned. However, I was tongue-tied and confused. Did the only thing I could and offered my friendship. After years, those feelings never changed. Instead they grew—morphed into something deep and profound. But never once did she see me as more than a friend. Never did she see the man that worshiped the ground she walked on. The man that desired to be what she wanted. Needed. I stayed on the sidelines until that day: A crash. Her life on the line and my world came to a screeching halt. Life is short and changes in the blink of an eye, a lesson I suddenly understood. There wasn’t a second to wait. No more hiding behind the guise of friendship. She was mine and it was time I claimed her.