“Rom, I care about you. I…” The word I was looking for got stuck inside my throat. Why was this so hard? Why was I so scared? I wanted him to say it first. I’d spent my life telling my dad and my stepmom that I loved them only to get nothing in return more often than not. There was a fear embedded deep inside me that no one would ever say it to me and mean it. And right now, when he was like this? I couldn’t do it.
