“Well, it’s definitely not because of your tattoos,” he joked. When I didn’t laugh, when I just stayed silent, shaking beneath him, he kissed my cheek and said, “Because you’re you. Because I’ve never stopped loving you and I never will. Because under all the layers of protection you’ve covered yourself with, you’re good and generous and strong and brave and you’re letting yourself be all those things again. I looked up to you when we were kids. I still look up to you now, because even with everything you’ve been through, you never stopped fighting. You might think you did, and maybe
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