A/N: Shout out to Kittens_Reads for the great comments and encouragement.  Don't forget to check out her book Taming Lucas.

Dear Heartbreaker,

It's February 14th today. I guess you could call it the great day of cliches or even a commercialized business venture between the card industry and the chocolate companies. Or perhaps it is a 24 hour period of anti-romance? Whatever it is, I think it all comes down to love. Love in all of its forms. Not just between couples but love of a child, love between friends, love of God, or even love of nature. Love doesn't have to be a Hallmark greeting card because your partner expects it. Love should be fluid, moving, powerful, and selfless.

I bet you haven't forgotten my penchant for Disney movies: Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella, The Lion King, Sleeping Beauty, the Little Mermaid, Snow White, Tangled...the list goes on.  Any day when I was feeling sad or angry because of class stressors or because I felt caught in the middle of my parents messy divorce, you would suffer through a Disney movie marathon and sometimes even bring me ice cream. 

Snuggled tightly into your side, I'ld watch 'love prevail' and I couldn't help but feel lighter, happier, even safer. Kris and Tate would rib you about watching girly movies but you jabbed right back with your wit and sarcasm.  I think there was a time or two that you shut them up with the line "at least I got a girl."

The thing I loved about those movies was the theme of goodness, light and love prevailing over evil and darkness. Yes, I cheered when the princess won her prince and the villain was vanquished. 

But the problem with these stories is they don't demonstrate the real-life grit which constitutes reality. Every day is not going to be a fairytale. It doesn't show what happened to Cinderella and her prince or if Ariel was happy living on land with Prince Eric.  Where was the pain of a  first fight? What happened when they discovered each other's quirks and personality differences? Was anyone so homesick they left their "Prince Charming"?

I don't want to say I was ignorant but, these movies and even romance novels had me believing in fairy tales instead of focusing on the practical. But I wanted to live a fantasy because I'ld never experienced a fairy tale romance before.

Even when we were separated by several states over summer break, I believed in us. I walked around with those rose-colored glasses, missing you like crazy and counting down the days until we started our sophomore year.  I didn't realize September would be the beginning of a year full of turbulence, betrayal, heartache and growth. 

In my hands lays a card. This card is bent and faded now but the writing is legible.  Your tiny scrawl, words meant to express feelings that I thought would last forever, marking up both inside pages.  I want to share these words because I want you to understand that I took them to heart, thriving on them, relishing in the love presented to me.  They were a promise for a future I was beginning to plan on. 

Sweetie,

I love you so much. I can't believe we have been together for 10 months already. Time flies when you're in love. You are my soul mate and I am so lucky to have met you so early in my life. You are such a wonderful woman and I don't know what I did to deserve such a beautiful, intelligent, amazing woman; but I must be doing something right. Thank you for putting up with my goofiness and all my other weird things.

I can't wait till I can call you my fiancé and then my wife! I would't want to have any other person but you. Without you I am not Cole. You have become a part of me and you have secured a permanent place in my heart and soul. I'm so in love with you and it just keeps getting better! Thank you for being Elise, the woman who has stolen my heart. I love you.

Cole

Your words not mine. Words which were tiny hugs to my heart.  I can read your letter now without crying. I can even smile and remember the good times we had that first year. I hope if you think of me at all, you'll remember the good times too.

We may not have been soulmates but for a short period of time, we were each other's everything.  Consumed, enraptured, in love. 

And then the darkness came, tainting what we hold dear, eroding away at our love until there was nothing left but a chasm between us filled with bitterness, tears, and questions. 

Let's just say bad things do come in threes. 

Yours Not So Truly,

Elise