ALIANA

“Why is that?”

“Because if he lays a hand on you,” he murmured, voice just above a whisper, “I can’t trust myself not to act in a way I would regret. And I promise to do better. The only person you're dating is me.”

Then the doors shut.

That evening, I stayed awake going over it repeatedly.

Each term. Each glance. Each quiet moment.

And I understood something both hurtful and lovely simultaneously.

He was not cold. He was not disconnected.

He was simply afraid, he is after all human like the rest of us.

I walked calmly away from the elevator as I finally exhaled; the night had...