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“How did you knoith her et hteen” And after all those years, they still held hands while they went on walks

He snickered, sitting tall and looking at herinto a telescope “It first hit o home I wanted my home to be her home Then I started to think about my life in ten or twenty years, and no matter what, she was there Once I asked myself those questions, it was clear to me”

I thought back to Guinevere’s first night with me I’d said I didn’t want her to be just some one-time screw and asked her to stay with ht her hoht her toothbrush, hair dryer, and flat iron into ht about how I couldn’t sleep on her side of my bed, even if she wasn’t there…because noas her side

“Do you want to knohere I see myself in ten years?” I whispered to hi up at the sky

“No, but I’ to tell me anyway”

I turned to look at hiet you to like me”

“It’s going to take ain “Eli”

He finally said my name However, he didn’t look pleased

“She’s o to hell and back for her, and I can’t bear for her to be hurt again”

“I won’t hurt her”

“That’s the thing We don’t try to hurt the people we care about, we just do Do you know she didn’t tell us how her engage was off We had to press Stevie to learn the truth And again, I felt like I had failed ed her not to go, told her the city would chew her up and spit her out I told her she could be an artist here, and teach at the high school We had a huge fight about it The next , she and Stevie were in her car, and she didn’t talk to ain until after she felt like she could tell me she’d made it She wrote letters, ht ere busy If we answered, our phone calls lasted five minutes, if that All because she didn’t want ht, that she couldn’t cut it So I have no idea what she went through her first year She wouldn’t takeBut the day she wasartist, she called me and talked for hours”

“She wanted to prove she could do it,” I said

He nodded

“And you blamed yourself for the void between you both, because it reminded you of your son?”

His head shot toward me, shocked, as if to ask how I knew