"Cait!" My name was shouted to my right, echoed over and over as more fans began to join in the cries. "Cait's here!"

I wiped away an errant tear as it trickled down my cheek, my eyes locked on the back of Andrew's head as the shouts of my name grew louder and louder. It felt like an eternity, caught in a bubble of time and space that forced me to endure what seemed like the worst moment of my life, as I prayed for him to hear. For him to turn around. For him to find me.

There are moments in life that change everything, whether you realize it or not. When you make a decision for one seemingly insignificant thing that ends up altering the course of your life. Taking the bus instead of walking might save you from being hit by a car. Getting stuck in traffic might prevent you from boarding a flight fated to crash. Fighting with your best friend might lead you to meeting the love of your life.

For me, it was a hot dog.

My favorite New York City tradition, a massive hot dog from Amir's stand on 59th street just outside Central Park, brought me to this moment in time. If I'd been on time, maybe I wouldn't have ever met Andrew. Or, maybe I would've ended up in front of him in line - getting the last hot dog - and goodness knows I wouldn't have shared that with him.

The last six months hinged around that one moment. When he tore the hot dog in two, offering me half, and eventually asked me to dinner. When I said yes, even when I wasn't looking for a relationship. When Val dragged me out for margaritas the very next day, and - as fate would have it - I met him again. When I gave him a second chance.

That single moment was nothing more than a drop of water in the ocean of my life, and yet it had the power to change everything. It led me to happiness for the first time after my mother's death. It taught me to lower my walls, if only for a little while, and let someone else in.

It caused me more hurt than I thought imaginable. Danielle's manipulation cut through my life like a knife, shredding the plans I made for myself, and sent me on a downward spiral of self-destruction. I'd given up on love, on finding someone who could make me happy, and I resigned myself to the fact that Andrew and I were never meant to be.

While he refused to give up on me, while he tried desperately to stay in touch and find out what happened, I let him slip away. Afraid of what might happen if I did otherwise, I doused myself in gasoline and gladly accepted the match Danielle handed to me.

A blink of an eye. A rush decision on his part to show kindness to a stranger. A freaking hot dog brought me here, breathless and freezing in the icy New York City evening, as I stand in a crowd of screaming girls while they all shout my name. I'm shivering, not from the cold, but from the anticipation of what might happen.

Hope.

That's all I have left right now. I'm clinging to it, grasping at the sands of time as they pass through my fingertips, and praying over and over that the universe will take pity on me.

Please hear them. Please turn around. Please find me. Please.

The crowd shifts, parting in front of me like Moses and the Red Sea, and I can see a straight path forward to the barrier. My body freezes, unable to move or think beyond this second, and I force myself to take step after step until I'm pressed against the cold metal.

A girl next to me smiled, clearly recognizing me, and she nudged me forward.

"Don't give up," she said with a grin.

"I won't," I promised her, gripping the railing as I leaned forward to shout. "Andrew!"

His head turned at the sound, scanning the crowd of girls for the source, and the screaming intensified. More people were calling out my name, and Andrew's forehead wrinkled in confusion when he realized what they were shouting.

The girl next to me waved her arms, jumping up and down in the air, "She's here! Cait's here!"

Several people joined her, all of them waving their signs in a desperate attempt to draw his attention, and my heart caught in my throat as I watched his eyes slowly scour the crowd. Like two magnets drawn toward each other, I could feel every fiber in my being screaming out for him to see me, watching in torture as I tightened my grip on the metal barrier.

"Andrew!" I called out again, ignoring the horde of smartphones filming and taking photos around me.

His eyes latched onto mine in an instant, more green than I'd ever seen them before, and my breathing stopped. I couldn't read his expression, only the tight clench of his jaw as he took in my disheveled appearance. Hair windblown and tangled from my rush to get here, cheeks bright red from the cold, pale fingers clenched in a death grip on the freezing metal, mismatched shoes thrown on without a second glance. I knew I looked ridiculous. I looked desperate. I looked like a complete and total idiot.

But I didn't care.

He took a step toward me, slow and steady, and an assistant ran to him - speaking in his ear - but Andrew waved him off. Refusing to take his eyes off mine, he ignored the calls of the paparazzi and journalists surrounding the red carpet and continued straight toward me.

There was no smile on his face. No joy in his eyes. Nothing to give me an indication of what exactly was going to happen, nothing to prepare me for what he might say to me, and the anticipation made it harder and harder to breathe.

It felt like a sharp knife, stabbing and twisting its way into my heart, while the edges of my vision blurred. I could hear my pulse racing in my ears, feel the anxiety coursing through my veins, and my lungs struggled to take in oxygen. My body shifted into fight or flight, and - while everything in me screamed to run away - I remained rooted to the spot.

He stopped in front of me, less than two feet separating us, and I exhaled shakily.

"Hi," I forced myself to speak first, barely louder than a whisper.

His eyes flickered down to my lips before meeting my gaze once more. Transfixed by the movement, it was everything I could do to keep myself from launching myself over the barrier toward him. Everything around us disappeared, none of it mattered, and I focused on him.

"I'm sorry," I said, this time speaking up a bit.

Twisting my hands over the ice-cold railing, I glanced at the ground. Andrew stood stock still, unmoveable, and I was terrified that he could hear my heartbeat slamming against my chest. I'd rehearsed this speech so many times, but words failed me. I didn't know what to say to him. I didn't know how to explain that I never wanted to leave him. I never wanted to help Danielle date him. I hated seeing the two of them together, and I wished it had been me the whole time.

How do you put that into words? How do you explain that, yes, you helped a psychopath worm her way into his life but you never meant to hurt him?

I looked back up at him and whispered, "Say something. Please."

He reached his hand into his pocket, the slight movement the first he had made since he stopped in front of me, and I flinched. Pulling out his phone, he tapped at the screen and held it out to me.

Twitter was open, showing the trending topics, and #CaitLovesLincoln was number two with over two hundred thousand tweets.

"Is it true?" He asked, his voice low as green eyes searched mine.

I bit my lip, unsure of how to answer. I wanted to scream yes, but he wasn't giving me any indication that my confession would be well received. I'd be toppling my walls, laying my heart bare for the world to see, with the chance of having it shattered into a million pieces.

Nodding, I mouthed 'yes' as tears welled up in the corners of my eyes.

Andrew hesitated, gently taking the phone from my shaking hands and pocketing it as he took a step backward. Turning to the side, he started walking away from me as tears began to pour down my face. The world felt as if it had gone sideways, slipping out from under my feet, and I was losing my grip on the planet with every step he took away from me. My heart plunged to the ground, a sob caught in my throat, as I watched him.

Unable to take more of the torment, I turned my back to the barrier and prepared myself to push back through the crowd of people staring back at me - phones lifted to capture one of the worst moments of my life - only to hear my name called behind me.

Spinning around, I watched as a security guard lifted the edge of the metal barrier, disconnecting it from the next one, and Andrew slipped through the space. He closed the distance between us in a single step, wrapping one arm around my waist and tugging me close to him, before pressing his lips against mine.

My world exploded into a kaleidoscope of colors, warmth blossoming in my chest, as he pulled me impossibly closer. His other hand cupped my cheek, brushing away my tears, as his lips slanted across my own.

Andrew broke the kiss after what seemed like both minutes and seconds, both of us breathless as we stared at each other, and he rested his forehead against my own. Camera flashes illuminated the darkness around us, cheers of joy punctuating the silence, but I was oblivious to all of it.

All I could think about was him.

Standing in his arms, losing myself in those eyes, it sunk in that this was another one of those moments. Another second in time that would irrevocably change my life for years to come. It might have been painful, horrifyingly so, but I was here. So many things, so many insignificant details, brought me to this point. To this man. To this moment. And, after all that had happened - all that we'd been through - it was in that instance that I knew it was worth it. This fleeting moment, I would remember for a lifetime.

"I love you too."