“I didn’t mean to.”

She was furious, to say the least. She had heard those same words so many times since they got together in the late summer. In the beginning, she only let it slip because of how warm he made her feel. Within the first week, he had to say it, practically pleading for her not to leave him. She stayed, blaming the warm feelings he gave her. Everyone around her told her how bad of an idea it was, especially him doing it so early into the relationship, but she ignored it. He was so warm.

He said it again a month later, this time it was for a bigger reason. He had just flirted with the girl the first time, now he was making plans to meet the girl. She couldn’t blame his warmth now, it was starting to get cooler out. This time she argued that she knew he had done wrong, but she also knew that deep down he was trying to change his ways. He didn’t want to cheat on her, she claimed, he just didn’t understand how to commit.

“I didn’t mean to” became a frequently used sentence by him. He said if when she caught him when he was worried she had caught them, and sometimes just to get her to leave him alone.

But for some reason, with him in front of her saying it this time, she can’t blame it on anything. He was no longer warm, and by now he would have had to understand some sort of commitment. She had given him so many blind chances, but now she finally understood.

“I didn’t mean to stay with after the first time, but you were so warm. And now you’ve lost all that warmth, and you only make me feel cold.”