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I shook my head. I understood what he was saying, but I couldn’t accept it. How could he not see me differently? “I am a monster, Ollie.”
“No, love, far from it. You were a little girl who was put in an impossible situation, and having to deal with it all on your own for too long.” He paused and wiped his face across his sleeve. “You got through it the only way you knew how, and now you have me. You never have to go through it alone. Ever. I’m right here, Mia. I’ll never leave you. I’ll always hear you. I promise you. It’s going to be you and I, do you understand me?”
“I’m no longer the girl you fell in love with, Ollie. I’m broken now. I’m not strong anymore. I don’t have my walls up, or my flip switched.”
“How is the light supposed to shine through your walls, Mia?” He exhaled as another tear fell from his eye, and he looked up to the ceiling for composure or to find words. “You think that’s why I fell in love with you, yeah? Because you were tough? I saw straight through your bullshit from the begi
ing. You could never hide from me. Yeah, you tried to push me away, but I saw the truth in you. Around me, you are different because it’s us. And I fell in love with us.”