“Build a friendship before marrying someone. Marry your best friend.”
from the Internet
As a sexual abuse survivor, Tansy Tubman didn't like to be touched, yet conversely she craved simple touches of affection. She was deathly afraid of romantic overtures by men, yet she had the same needs and longings of any woman. She bitterly fought the desires that would spring up within her even as she wept with all the frustrated love bottled up within her. It was a hell she couldn't seem to break free of even after many years of therapy.
David Monroe loved Tansy Tubman. He had since they were kids in elementary school. Over the years he had gained her trust as a friend but he, more than most, understood the chasm that prevented him from asking for more. So his feelings for her had remained on the back burner while he lived his life as any normal, healthy male was expected to do. He'd married, fathered a couple of kids, and pursued a career as a UPS delivery driver, eventually moving up the ranks into a managerial position at the local terminal. In time his marriage had degenerated into little more than friendship and his wife, wanting more in a relationship, had finally left him for another man. Perhaps she had sensed he wasn't completely hers and never would be. Still, because their marriage had lost its fire, there had been little pain and a lot of regret for what should have been. They had remained amicable and finished raising their kids with peace between them.
But while his ex-wife eventually married the man she'd left him for, David had remained single. There were the occasional dates and even a brief affair, but he'd finally admitted to himself that no one but Tansy could ever fill the place his heart had allocated only to her. So they had continued as they always had.
Until the day Tansy woke up and recognized what had been right before her all along.
She would never understand what, or why, it was that she suddenly realized she had feelings for David that were stronger than friendship. Was it because she saw him as a man in his own right? Or what it because the gentle smile he always gave her finally brought down her walls. Whatever it was, she knew that she wanted and needed him to be more than a friend. She loved him over and above that of a simple companion.
So she shyly began to communicate her change in regard. Terrified that she was doing it wrong, she allowed herself to smile at him in a different, more womanly way. She allowed him to stand closer to her. Not so close as to crowd her, but still close enough as to invite him closer. And she tried her hand at flirting for the first time in her life.
At first David was bemused by all the extra attention Tansy was showing him. He was baffled by the sudden change he saw in her eyes. And he began to hope...
It took a long time before he first tried to touch her. Careful not to scare her, he'd reached out and gently touched her cheek. More time passed before he would take her hand, at first in a show of gentlemanly consideration as he would lift it to kiss the air about it. Eventually, he dared to actually lay his lips against her knuckles. Not long after he began to lay his hand lightly against her back when he motioned her to go first through a door.
Their lifelong friendship continued to deepen, grow richer, as their mutual love grew, and finally David asked her out on a real date and took her to dinner at a nice restaurant. After that, Tansy's walls were completely down and they kissed for the first time.
Over the weeks that passed, that simple, almost chaste kiss heated as their physical desires grew and Tansy lost all inhibitions with him. He was gentle, careful with her. Always fearful that he would do something to frighten her away again. But she wanted him with a passion that had remained banked throughout her life. And she recognized that this was the man she'd always dreamed of. The patient knight that had stood before her throughout childhood and beyond. She had been asleep, locked in physical and emotional slumber, but was now fully awakened, and he had held the single key to open the lock. At fifty-nine, Tansy made love for the first time in her life.
Not long after they were married in a quiet ceremony, followed by a dinner reception with close family and friends in the church they had both attended since infancy. Tansy and David danced, smiling into one anothers eyes, to the notes of a favorite love song that celebrated a friendship that had long smoldered before taking flame. And as their bodies circled and swayed, it was David's loving touch that led her into the new life that had long awaited them.
c. 2026
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Reviewed by Scar let
1/13/2026
Yo this story really hits with that whole “marry your best friend” vibe. It’s slow and chill but also super emotional and real. Tansy’s struggle with touch and intimacy hits hard. You can feel how much she wants love but also how scared she is. That inner fight is honestly painful but in a good way. It’s not rushed or “fixed” by love it’s more like she heals with time, trust, and patience.
David is probs the best part. He doesn’t try to save her or rush anything. He just stays. Even after living his own life, getting married, having kids, getting divorced, his love for Tansy never turns weird or creepy. It’s lowkey respectful which makes all the tiny moments like her smile, letting him stand closer, the first touch on her cheek hit way harder. Every little thing feels massive.
The intimacy stuff is done really well too. Her first kiss, first time making love at fifty-nine, then the wedding all feel earned. The final dance isn’t flashy but it’s like a reward for everything they went through. It’s not about passion first it’s about safety, trust, and friendship turning into love.
Future chapters I’m kinda curious about: how does Tansy keep healing now that she’s married? Does being loved this deeply bring up new fears or struggles? What’s David’s life like as a husband after holding back for so long? Also lowkey wanna see how their childhood memories and old wounds keep shaping their relationship.
Overall this story is super gentle, mature, and human. Not loud but it sticks with you
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