strong enough?

it's been nearly 5 years since they've been together, he never had a girlfriend, he had eyes for one in school though but never persued her or hadn't the skills to. she however had loads of guy friends, had loads of crushes, had weird relationships but never a steady one. so when the both of them met, it was sort of love at first sight or shall i say love at the 3rd or 4th chat.

yes, they didn't know how they looked like but they fell for each other through their conversations. it was unrealistic but that came to an end when they decided to meet. it was a festive occasion that they decided to meet, prior to that, photographs were sent by courier together with letters and cards stating their love and loads of telephone conversations. when the day came, he met her at her house bearing gifts for her and her family and off they went for their first date.

she thought the first date would be awkward, but she didn't feel that, she felt comfortable. they had talked on the phone nearly everyday and that gave her the confidence to meet him. as for him, he was nervous, was sweating the whole time and gave him the shivers everytime she looked at him, walked next to him. one memorable thing they did together was eating mandarin oranges on the beach. both confessed in liking the fruit and he had brought a big bag of them to be shared between the two. during that time, no words were said, they knew that they were sharing a special moment (even though it was just sitting by the beach, eating and peeling mandarin oranges and getting their hands dirty) and that they knew this was it. that they belong together.

weeks and months after that was bliss. eventhough it was a long distance relationship, they always found time to meet, he'd either come see her at her house in the middle of the night or she'll meet him some where. they'll ALWAYS find a way to meet. they became close, very close. so close till she got him enrolled in a local college and found him a room to rent, so that they could see each other more than before. then the opportunity came for him to study in another state under a scholarship. it was good opportunity and she had to let him go and take it. she thought that since they were ALREADY in a long distance relationship, what's different with another 300KMs away? so he went.

he's been there ever since. he'd come down to see her, and she'll go up to see him. they'd steal a few days away to go for holidays and it was great. it was great until it became too long. the distance felt furthur and the opportunity to be closer is dissapearing. she has tried to go to him, but she had no chance. he couldn't get to her as he was under a scholarship. all they could do is to stay where they are and kept doing what they were doing all along - telephone calls, emails and the occasional 2-3 days a month of meeting each other.

they came to a pact that COMMUNICATION is the key to a relationships. talk talk talk! that is the only way to overcome problems. months and years passed and she started to feel the strain. she was always insisting for him to see her and insisting him to attend family functions. he too felt the strain, in trying to make her happy and at the same time trying to be patient with the family problems he had back in his home town. everytime he had a chance to go back, he had to split his time between his family and her. she has but many times gave him his space for his family but how long can she do that? she too needs his attention.

now that she has finished with her studies, career is now her goal. to find a job, start a career, and he's starting to feel the stress. he's still schooling and he has to start to think of his future. she believes in school->work->car->house->marry, he doesn't. with her having a proper job with normal fixed working hours, that gives them less time to meet and he still needed to juggle his time between her and his family.

it became so bad that most of their telephone conversations were on "when are u on holiday? when are u coming to see me?". the pact of communication has begun to lose. the distance and the differences they had has taken its toll on them, badly. she kept pestering him to make time for her. he's pressured by this and also the time he has to share between her and his family. she's expecting alot from him and he's stressed because he can't meet that expectation and feels dissapointed in her for expecting so much from him. she's frustrated because he's not making any effort to be with her and he's frustrated because she can't seem to understand and be patient with him.

questions has been thrown back and forth between them. why isn't it like how it was before? what happened to the princess i knew? what happened to the energetic and lovable guy i knew? and the only answer they came up was - they had matured, they had grown, they had new responsibilities, they had more differences.... they are drifting apart...

so, do they have the strenght to go on? will she be strong enough to wait till he gets a job and settle down? will he be strong enough to convince her that it'll be soon? will she be strong enough to be more patient and understanding towards him? will he be strong enough to keep his promises and try to be there for her, more?

what do u think? will they be strong enough?