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I had no doubt in my mind he and I were meant to be together. I was sure of it. We would get through this, and moving forward, I would look back to this and remember that we were stronger together. If we could stand together through dealing with this, then I knew nothing would be able to stand up against us.

There was a part of me that worried he was going to insist that he was better off alone, but with the way he kept squeezing my hand, I felt that it was a worry without any true merit. He was surprised I came, but with that surprise, I was sure I had seen some gladness, too.

Cole might not ever admit it out loud, but he needed me.

He was a strong man who could take care of most things on his own, but that didn’t change the fact that he was also human, and there were moments when he just let his guard down and needed someone else to be strong. And I was proud to be that person. I didn’t know what I had done to be so lucky in life, but I was glad I had done it.

I sat with Cole throughout the rest of the evening and long into the night, only leaving when I absolutely had to. He stayed in the hospital himself, and he would for the next couple days, but I promised him I would be back. I wasn’t going to let him sit there alone the entire time. Not when I could be there entertaining him and helping the time go faster.

Not to mention it gave us the time to talk. Not just about the cancer, but about everything we wanted to do with our lives. The hours we passed together brought us closer than ever. And for that, I was grateful. I wished we had been able to do it under different circumstances, but I had to admit, if growing closer to him came of this, then I wasn’t going to hate it too much.

After all, Cole was the love of my life. I was sure of that now. I hoped to God he could see it, too. I didn’t just need him. We needed each other.

We would always need each other.