The First Kiss of Love - My husband and I have known each other since our first year in college. I was 18 and he was 20. He changed his major to computer engineering and had to start all over again. On the first day of school, I sat next to him and attended the first class. At first, I didn't notice him... Neither of us were smitten at first sight. I was the only girl in the class and was immediately looked down upon upon arriving at the school. Someone told me that girls with looks like mine weren't suitable for studying engineering (this was a long time ago, thank goodness, the situation has changed now).

In class, I just said to him, "Sorry." At that time, I accidentally bumped into him with my elbow, causing his pencil to fall out of his hand and onto the ground. Then he asked me if I had any pencils that I could lend him. I took out a pencil box filled with pencils.

He said, "First grade? When I was in the first grade, my schoolbag was also filled with pencils." I looked at him and smiled... I tried to behave well and listened attentively. He said, "Thank you."

The next day I saw him. He walked into another classroom and sat a seat away from me, with an empty desk in the middle. Looking at me, he said, "I won't lose my pencil again today." I smiled and said, "My name is Samantha." He said, "Hi, I'm Dave."

We attended two classes together and happened to know each other for three weeks. Soon, we became good friends. During our three years in university, we helped each other with our studies. In the bar, we became each other's "wingmen", laughing together. After bad dates, bad grades, and broken relationships, we relied on each other and shared our feelings. During the period when my sister suddenly passed away, he was my support. At that time, there was no sexual connection between us. Have I ever thought about kissing him? Yes. I remember once he hugged me, and at that moment all I wanted to do was kiss him. But this feeling didn't last long. I thought about the irreplaceable friendship between us and realized it wasn't worth taking the risk.

After graduation, he joined a small software company. He was an extremely talented developer who could choose his own working location freely.

After six years of dating, the company grew and he offered me a job. I accepted it. I have to admit that I miss the days when I could call him anytime and see him, and this is also one of the reasons why I took this job.

His working hours are very long. He often works 12 hours a day and 6 days a week. The place where he lives is 45 minutes away from the office, while mine is just a few steps away from the office. His work at the company is much more demanding than mine. He often stays overnight at my house. I eventually gave him a key. Some people say we are siblings, but I have never thought so. Others say we often argue and behave like old married couples. We always say that this is because we know everything about each other. Our friends commented that we have a good understanding in terms of sex, and we should date. Many of them said that we are a perfect match. His male friends said that the men I date look and behave differently from him. I am indeed like that, but at the same time, I think the girls he dates are completely the opposite of me.

We were the only single programmers without families, so after work or when we had something to do on weekends, we could only stay alone in the office. During all those long periods of solitude, I gradually fell in love with him, and soon we were deeply in love. I never wanted him or anyone else to know because I was afraid of being rejected and also afraid of losing a perfect friend. Every man I dated, I compared him to this perfect man, so all my previous relationships failed. There was only one man in my heart, and I longed for him to see me the same way.

One evening after work, he called me and said he was hungry. He invited me to meet him at a small sushi restaurant opposite my apartment. The waiter arranged a private booth for us, with only one side reserved for couples. I was feeling very cold, and he noticed. He said, "I can give you my hoodie, but my undershirt would make me look like a homeless person." Then he wrapped his arms around me and pulled me into his embrace. He kissed the top of my head, just like he did every time I cried in his arms, no matter what the reason... I remember his smell, and now when I think back to that day, I can clearly smell it.

With each breath, I felt a wave of love spreading throughout my body, breathing in that masculine scent. He rubbed my arm with his hands, warming me up. "Are you feeling better now?" he asked in a low voice. I looked up at him and he was still lying in my arms, saying, "Yes." He looked down at me for a long time, then lowered his head, as if about to kiss me. My heart beat faster, and I could hear his heart beating faster too. The moment I had been waiting for finally arrived. I was going to kiss the man in my dreams. I had always wondered if he felt the same way as I did, and the way he looked at me made me realize that perhaps he really did. I was both nervous and excited, and at the same time, anxious. When the waiter brought in the food, our noses touched. That moment vanished; I missed my kiss.

We ate in silence. The atmosphere was tense, but not in a pleasant way. I felt like crying. I didn't dare to look at him, unable to bear the feeling of rejection and embarrassment. Moreover, it wasn't worth risking our friendship, but I thought we had already done it. He drove me home and told me that I should go inside and talk about what had happened.

I poured out my heart to him, crying and saying how much I wanted to be with him. I told him how much I missed him, how perfect he was, and how he made me feel like I was the only girl in the world. I told him the truth - that I had once thought I had felt love, but compared to my love for him, that was nothing.

He said he had felt this way about me before. It was in the summer of 2003, two years before that night. At that time, I was with someone else, and my relationship with that man was very serious. He couldn't just stand by and watch me fall in love with someone else, listening to me talk about the feeling of being in love. That man was my first love. Dave needed to leave, and he went on a month-long backpacking trip in Europe with some friends. I clearly remember that summer. I miss him very much. Especially that summer, I discovered that my boyfriend had betrayed me. He said he was back, had become a completely different person. He mainly thought about our friendship and didn't want to lose me, this close friend of his. He said he felt that he had lost me, this potential love interest of his.

Like me, because we had been working together for such a long time, he often treated me as his girlfriend. I needed to hear this to relieve my tension. He said he didn't want to go through the emotions like those he experienced in Europe again. Although I was heartbroken, I understood his feelings. I lost the most precious man in my life (many of my painful tears were due to my father), and I burst into tears. I told him that I wasn't sure if I could let go of him and that I needed some time alone. Thankfully, it was Friday night and I didn't need to go to work for the next two days. He left.

I have never cried so bitterly before... My heart has never been so broken. I didn't sleep all night. It was around four o'clock in the morning then, but I was still crying. I always turned to him for help when I needed it, but this time, he became the source of my pain. I was all alone.

I heard the knock on the door and a soft voice said, "It's me." It was Dave. I was planning to ignore him. To be honest, he was the last person I wanted to see. He said he hadn't finished speaking, but wanted to give me the space I requested. I felt that I owed him and should let him finish what he wanted to say. I opened the door. Both of our eyes were red, because we hadn't slept all night and had shed countless tears for each other.

He placed his hand on my cheek, lifted my head slightly and said: "I love you... I need you... I won't lose you again."

He drew me closer and kissed me. That was the most passionate kiss I had ever experienced. My knees felt weak. It was a brief kiss, probably only 15 seconds long. Looking back on all the emotions that came flooding back during those 15 seconds, I still felt powerless. Since that day, he has never stopped kissing me so passionately. Ten years have passed. Over the past ten years, I have been living my dream life with this man and our two children. I still need him as much as I did that night.