to tell him any

as easy to stay untouched when you only let people see what you wanted them to. And most of th

d something open in m

. Maybe it was because he'd trusted me first. Maybe it was the way his voice had t

after coffee that evening, the city glowing gold

urned his head t

We met in law school. He was brilliant. Polished. My parents adored him. W

always gave me space to get

st your own doubts into chains. He didn't yell. He d

urrowed. "Like e

e something new, he'd say I was trying too hard. He isolated me slowly-friends, fami

elieved him. For a

otsteps filled the

t out?" Julia

students. He didn't even apologize. Just looked at

d, low and sh

," I said. "But I didn't

e him, and for the first time, I saw hi

e said firml

udded a lit

d. "Took me a whil

ing me, but close enough that I

ong version you show the world. I see the wom

ut because of the way he said it-like he wasn't

eased, but my voice was softe

"I am. But

ok away. No

l," I said, barel

replied, voic

ing for someo

ldn't

you exactly, but of wanting something

ry day. Of screwing this up. Of pulling you into

e small st

en smiled, almost shyly, "this doesn't

ther,"

ilence

filled, but stretches between two

thout thinking-I r

just laced his fingers with mine like

t a kiss

. A promise, maybe.

a long time, I didn't fe