Shattered Love

's soaked clothes onto the floor. Emily watched him shrug off his jacket and lay it car

rms around hersel

" she asked, her vo

t flickering across his face. "Yeah,"

a moment, to breathe, to collect herself. She could feel his presence behind he

ned against the counter, waiting for the shrill whi

couch, his head in his hands. He looked up when he heard her, offering a small, broken smile. Em

e, they sa

icked loudly on the wall. Somewhere in th

ckson broke

med. "Pulling away. Pretending I wasn't scared. Acting like everything was fine when it

" she admitted. "I thought if I stayed quiet, if I didn't complain, you'd

the pain in his eye

the tears finally spilling over. "Even

oice breaking. "Every day. I just... I didn't know how to r

like disinfecting a deep wound. It stung, it burned, but it w

llowing thickly. "Scared that i

ds open, vulnerable. "I thought if you sa

eight of their confes

than anything else ever c

y, giving her every chance to pull away. His f

e me... if you even want to try... I want to stay. I wan

ands, at the trembling

im again? Could s

the grand moments, the

g - in the showing up, brok

acing her fingers with his.

ed," she

. "But we can be

e windows instead of a furious pounding. It was as if

like a lifetime, Emily allowed

ot with forgetting the pain, but by

ions of each other - but the real, messy, wounded s