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She looks down at the bed and lowers her hand to her chest "You earing black," she whispers

Her gaze falls to the pillow next toa black t-shirt, and I was laughing at you because I said it was too tight I said it made you look like Simon Cowell You pinned me to the mattress, and then…" Her eyes meet mine "And then you kissed le moment of that "It was our first kiss We were fourteen," I say "But I had been wanting to kiss you like that since ere twelve"

She slaps her hand over her es forward, wrapping her arms aroundcoht sneaking in?" she says

"Your ht out of your bedroo between her tears I’ainst her neck I close ood ones The bad ones All the nights she cried in s turned out between her mother and father

"The phone calls," she says quietly "Every single night"

I know exactly what she’s talking about I would call her every night and ould stay on the phone for an entire hour When our ure out e had talked for so long every night if our relationship was falling apart

"Jimmy Fallon," I tell her "We both loved Jiht when his shoould coether"

"But we never talked," she says "We just watched the show together without speaking and then we’d go straight to sleep"

"Because I loved hearing you laugh"

Not only are the s All the feelings I’ve ever had for this girl are unfolding, and for a second I’ht as we rake through a lifetiood memories and then ood ones The hurt our parents’ actions inflicted on us The hurt we’ve caused each other The hurt we’ve caused other people We’re feeling every bit of it, all at once

Charlie clenches my shirt in her fists and buries her face in my neck "It hurts, Silas," she whispers "I don’t want to be that girl again How can we make sure we’re not the same people ere before this happened to us?"

I run my hand over the back of her head "But we are those people," I say to her "We can’t take back e’ve been in the past, Charlie But we can control e are in the present"

I lift her head from my shoulder and hold her face in " I wipe her tears aith my thuain Because I don’t want to forget you all over again I never want to forget a single second with you"

She shakes her head "I swear I’ll never stop loving you, Silas And I’ll never forget"

I dip my head until ing dinner home I wait for hietables for a salad I like to pretend I’s at the sink just so I can see when he pulls into the driveway

His car pulls in ten rab for a dishtowel, feeling those damn butterflies in my stomach They never went away Fro after this et out of the car first Jessa, our daughter, and then her boyfriend, Harry Nor er on Jessa and Harry

Jessa is just like me: stubborn, h with her one-liners I like Harry; they’ve been together since freshraduate next year They’re usually the epitolassy eyed and touchy like Silas and I used to be Still are But today, Jessa stands off to the side of the driveway, her arets out of the car too and goes to stand next to her They , I think Jessa soets upset