“I won’t let you be, and I won’t let you ruin this or regret us, because no one else has ever looked at me the way you do. Touched me the way you do. Held me the way you do.” His face bunches up, as does mine. “No one’s ever listened to me and talked to me the way you do. So to try and take all that from me, and become just like all the others?” My fingers flex, blunt nails biting into his face. “It hurts like nothing else. So much, I can’t breathe. I could handle it coming from anyone else, but I can’t handle it coming from you. So please, Nolan, please just….” I choke on a sob.
