The Charm Offensive

by Alison Cochrun

“Crippling is a bit much. I like to think I’m sort of dabbling in depression.”

“You need to relax,” she drawls, as if telling someone to relax has ever once in the history of human beings yielded that outcome.

“Well, I held Daphne’s hand yesterday, and then I kissed Angie without having a panic attack about it, so yes?” “Guard your hearts, ladies! Casanova is on the loose.”

people who don’t make assumptions about you when they discover your brain doesn’t work like theirs; people who don’t judge you; people who simply stay with you and ask what they can do to help. People who trustingly hand you all of themselves in PDF form.

labels can be nice sometimes. They can give us a language to understand ourselves and our hearts better. And they can help us find a community and develop a sense of belonging.

You’re allowed to want the romance parts without the sex parts. Or the sex parts without the romance parts. All of those feelings are valid. You’re deserving of a relationship in whatever form you want it.”

“I’m not afraid of anything. Except emotional intimacy and abandonment.”