Never Leave, Never Lie

by Thea Verdone

The velvet box was a telltale heart beating in his pocket.

On the less than rare occasion Aleksandar broke something whilst weaving down the narrow aisles of history, his uncle never yelled. Instead, he’d patiently teach him how to fix it. “Nothing is ever too broken to be fixed,” his uncle had said. But he was wrong about that. People and hearts could break and never be fixed again.

I could forget everything about myself and still know that I love you.

“Don’t you dare slip into a coma or die while I’m gone.” “Wait!” Alek begged. Can you leave something with me? Something you’ll have to come back for. Ian’s brows darted together. “What? Like collateral?” Please. “You already have it.” Alek wrote a giant question mark and held the clipboard up. “You’re the collateral, Alek. I’ll always come back for you.”

“I guessed you took your coffee dark like your disposition,” Dr. Modorovic said. “Was I right?” “You were.”

I could forget everything and still know that I love you.

It was terrifying to lay his soul bare and ask the person he loved most to have him forever.

He wanted to hold Ian’s left hand for at least as long as it took to memorize the sensation of their freshly ring-cladded hands joined together.

“It’s a strange feeling…” Alek said. “What is?” Ian sat down beside him and took both of his hands. “Loving someone so much that you wish they never met you.”

Velishikov?”

“Fear is only proof you are alive.

I think he meant that there’s no reward without risk. That anything worth doing will be scary, but that I should do it anyway. That fear should be felt, faced, and conquered. That there is no life without something to fear.