Outdrawn

by Deanna Grey

I had a nasty habit of over-explaining myself, a habit of trying to convince people to understand me. I’d gone so many years trying to get my parents and Liana to get it that I’d become an expert at stockpiling facts and words to better communicate. It was a habit that mentally exhausted me.

So me....:(

"Can't all make a living doing what we enjoy. Some of us have to claw our way through the real world, survive any way we can. Sometimes, that survival looks like quitting to the outside."

“Thank you for telling me. Thank you for letting me know how I hurt you. I will do everything I can to not to that again.”

"I like Kyla," she said and opened her eyes. "From Red Rain." "My warrior?" Kyla was a grumpy side character who only got occasional dialogue during the side quests my fantasy characters went on. "She's horrible at everything." Noah's smile lit up her face. "And yet everyone still loves her. Her mentee always stands up for her. Her captain still believes there's potential there. She's almost forty and doesn't have everything figured out. I like that she's trying. I like that people love her even though she's not the best she can be yet. It gives me hope that…I can be loved even though I'm not at my best yet. Even if I never live up to that potential, you know?"

Hope for Kyla :)

There was no reputation to uphold or ruin with her. I was safe. She'd seen me and she was still here. I was safe.

“It’s you,” I groaned into the pillow. “It’s always you. No matter where I go.”