As they stare at each other, their love is tumbling down to the semi-frozen ground as it slowly spreads out at their feet . They have two choices. One, rake the leaves into a pile and make the best of what they have together. Or the second choice is, he stands there and watches her enjoy the fall leaves by herself as he stands by weary with worry.

This isn’t her first time failing at love. She has at one or more points in her life hurt someone she has loved. But she is not just an inflictor of pain, she has also been a victim of being hurt by a loved one who she thought would never hurt her intentionally. And as he stands before her with hesitation written on every crease of his brow; know that she has her own hesitations that he can't see. His hesitations were mightier than her words of love, and his lack of faith is what brought them here. She is done loving someone who can’t have respect for her when she has given nothing but respect for them. Even after being dragged along for the ride as he silently decided if he could still love her; even when they both knew that love should never be a question, but only an instinct.

So here they are still standing outside on a cool crisp fall day, with beautiful colors surrounding them; and yet the only colors he can see is black and white. His faith in her is gone, leaving her tinted in failure, he sees a repeating cycle, he sees everything he fears in a relationship. Here is where that stops, she will not continue to keep focusing on all the negatives because she knows as a photographer does, she has to develop from the negatives of her life and become something greater and more beautiful than ever before. So this is her developing and letting her colors shine through; as he stands here seeing their “what could be life” in black and white. Finally, she is slowly outlining everything in color for him; she is not like his ex’s, she didn’t tell him about her past for attention, and she certainly was not looking for judgment, but that is all he ever gave her. She has and will always live her life purely and faithfully.

So she excuses herself, while she steps out of this dark colorless world for good, she tells him to feel free to follow her. She continues on as she reminds him if he decides to stay here, the seasons will change and he will fade out, and she will continue to grow with this ever changing world. She will live her life with the most vibrant and purest intentions, full of faith, and no judgment and she will always be forgiving to those who deserve it. She is by no means a perfect person, but when she loves someone she wants that love to be true. So even though this hurts her, she tells him, thank you. Thank you for teaching her that a little hesitation is needed when it comes to falling-in-love. Thank you for letting her finally grow into something more, and one day some other man will thank him also.

That man, he will thank him for letting her rake those leaves up and fall into them alone; for leaving her so she could learn to love this world without him. For teaching her that everything he had said to her should not be taken to heart. That man will thank him for teaching her what she deserves and what she doesn’t deserve, he will thank him because she will have never felt a love like theirs.