It was such a simple thing, but it meant more than she could have possibly known. She hadn’t left me. She hadn’t run away when things went to shit, even though she could have. There was nothing to keep her there except the desire to protect me, which felt too damn strange to believe. But I’d seen it with my own eyes. Heard her words. Felt her grasp my hand and lead me out of there because I was too shell-shocked with anger to navigate my way out. This was why I tried, and why I had to keep trying even when it sucked. For her. For all of us.
