My hand flails around on the alarm clock as I try to find the magic button that will end its beeping that is perfectly pitched to wake you up and refuse to let you go back to sleep afterwards because the sound is still ringing in your ears. I press every button on the darn machine but somehow miss the one that silences it and in exasperation I pull the plug. "Ha. I win." I say slightly grumpy as I haul my body out of the bed. I glance at the clock. It's 5:00 AM. I check every morning like somehow it's going to be different one day.

Five o'clock in the morning. I hate this hour and love it all at the same time. It's too damn early in my opinion while at the same time no one else is out so I basically have the world to myself. A wonderful stillness and quiet hangs over everything in that hour before the rest of the world wakes up and starts disrupting it. But even with all that, it's too early.

I rub my arms to warm up. It's too cold up here someone must have turned the fan on once I fell asleep and I'm freezing in my tank top and pajama shorts. Only in my house would I fall asleep in summer and wake up in winter. What is this, the freaking Chronicles of Narnia?

I'm changed in a matter of seconds. Cold air is probably the best encouragement to hurry up and get ready ever invented. I slip into the bathroom and almost burst out laughing as I see the number I've done on my hair while I slept. Half of it looks like a bad hairstyle from the 60s: all piled on top and stuck there because of tangles and has this really frizzy look, while the other half has a wrinkle in it from where my head had pushed it down during the night. I somehow manage to brush it all out and pull it back in a ponytail. Having completed that, I can think of no more reason to delay going out and running. I do enjoy the running part; it's just the thought of getting out there and doing it that's hard. I carry my shoes down the stairs and put them on outside so I don't wake anybody else in the house. The cool morning air right before the humidity hits is perfect for running and once I get going, it seems like no time at all until I'm done.

I'm rounding the last corner when I look up and find a familiar but unexpected car in the driveway. I speed up as I recognize the equally familiar person leaning against its bumper waiting for me. "Kate!" I say laughing even though it sounds more like I'm being strangled since I'm already short of breath. "What are you doing here?" I say unable to hide the pleasure in my voice at seeing her. I stop myself just short of hugging her as I remember how sweaty I am.

"I wanted to see you." She answers and my heart starts beating faster. I step forward and stop myself from kissing her just in time. "Come inside, I'm just going to shower off."

Five minutes and the fastest shower I've ever taken later and I'm back to focusing on the only person I've ever loved. I sit down on my still unmade bed next to her and snuggle up very close. "Why'd you really come?" I ask her. I have a feeling that I know why she came but I want her to say it.

"Because, I wanted to see you." And this time her tone is completely different and I know that what I'd suspected is true. This time I do lean in and kiss her and she kisses me back. She squirms over so that she is straddling my lap while we kiss and slowly she shoves me backward. "I love you, you know that right?" She says, supporting her body just a few inches over mine. I smile and kiss her back.

"You know I'd rather die than be without you." I say the words sounding foreign in my mouth since I'm not usually very romantic but I said them because they are true. She nuzzles up under my chin and I hold stroke her head. "I love you too." She whispers.