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“You’re co with me,” he finally said “I just need to talk to the men real quick and make sure the fire chief looks into how and why this happened”

Maksiuy only when absolutely necessary, so I was suddenly seeing hiht as he went to the men and barked orders, then ran over to the fire chief who’d just arrived and told hi on

I walked over to his car on nu it shut behind me I waited there and watched

And as I watched, I wondered what thewasn’t quite right

He’d run frory, like holding me was too much

At least we could agree on that

Touching him was too much

I’d do better in the future and try not to get ht it would have been better to be burned by the fire than by his touch One left a scar on the outside

The other left an unhealable wound on the inside

Both were bad

But at least one would fade

The scars left by Maksim Sinacore—were eternal

Here to stay

Even when he was long gone

Chapter Five

“You o my own dark way” —Robert Louis Stevenson

Maksim

It was close

Too close

She shakes next to me I notice the way she leans away like she’s afraid to touch me, to be too close when all I want is to pull her into my arms and kiss her fear away I’m not stupid; o away They’d just push her further than she has already been pushed

She’s not wrong

Maybe that’s what sucks the most

When you love someone, really love someone, you both have this uncanny ability to manipulate each other’s emotions, even when it’s not intentional You can’t help but react

Good or bad

Helpful or hurtful

Everything cuts deeper

The hits hit harder

Conversations are more intense and chaotic

Arguo from zero to sixty in under two minutes

But it’s because you feel so much