I don’t like crying . . . At least I didn’t. Until I found someone to hold me through the tears. Once I found him . . . Davian, I realized that maybe crying was okay. As long as he held me and I held him.

I let out a shaky breath as I slowly lift my head off Davian’s shoulder. There’s a huge puddle on his leather jacket, I hadn’t even realized I’d cried that much.

Davian tilts his head as he meets my eyes. “What happened?” He ponders his voice soft, as he tries to fight the tears that I can see lacing his black eyes.

I shake my head, even though I know what happened. I know exactly what happened. I know how it happened, where it happened and I know what I was missing when it happened.

“I was . . .” I trail off, my eyes blurring from the tears that creep into them. “I was . . . Done.”

Davian drops his head to stare at the leafy ground beneath us. He lets out a sigh, but it’s not annoyed or disappointed. It’s a kind of sigh I’ve never heard before, scared . . . Or something maybe like . . . _Love? _

“What . . .” Davian lifts his eyes to look in mine. “What stopped you?” His voice is high, filled with tears.

I wish I never brought this up. I should have just kept it a secret like I’ve been doing this whole time. I don’t want Davian to hurt, especially if it’s over me. I’m not worth that.

“Fear,” I mumble as Davian moves his hand across the dirt to mine. He grabs tightly onto my hand, swallowing as he licks his lips. “I was scared it would hurt . . . I was pathetic.”

Davian’s eyes light up at my reponse, he parts his lips his breathing becoming even more heavy than it was before.

“Maisie,” Davian squeezes my hand. “No . . .” He shakes his head as a tear escapes his eye. “Don’t . . Don’t say that.”

Before I can disagree with him, he’s already thrown himself on me, his strong arms making it hard to breathe. But I don’t care, if I end up dying from this hug at least it’ll be in his arms.

I let my head fall to his shoulder as my arms wrap around his neck. This is what I needed that day, the day I almost ended everything. I needed a hug from someone like Davian.

I had Mom and she did care deeply about me. She hugged me and squeezed me tight but somehow it didn’t fix anything. She was my mom it was kind of her job to care for me . . . Wasn’t it? So sometimes her hugs felt like they were chores, like she just wanted to get them over with.

Even though I know that’s not true, in my mind it wasn’t enough to fix my pain. I needed . . . Wanted someone who wasn’t related to me to hug me. Someone who wasn’t required to do it, someone who did it because they wanted to.

And that’s who Davian is for me. He’s the boy who will be there for me even though he doesn’t have to. He’s the boy I’ve been waiting for.

I let out a choked sob as I melt deeper into Davian’s arms. “You’re alwyas here.” I cry softly into his ear as he rocks slowly back and forth. “You always save me.”

Davian gives me a quick squeeze as he brings his hands out of the hug and up to my cheeks. His eyes linger on mine for a long time, his hands sweaty as they rest on my cheeks.

“I want to,” Davian whispers his black eyes trembling as he blinks a few times. “It’s the only thing I want to do in this stupid world. I _want_ to save you.”

I let out a small shaky breath as his words echo around us in the empty forest. He’s either a really good lier or I’m falling in love with him.

“I . . . I . . .” I trail off as everything around us slows down, blending into the background.

Davian rubs his thumb under my eye as a tear slides down my cheek. “Don’t think I won’t come when you need me . . . ‘Cause I always will.”

All my brain can think to do is cry. So I do, I let my eye lids fall over my eyes as I lift my hands up to Davian’s. I hold onto his wrists, as my tears fall down my cheeks and onto his hands.

This can’t be real . . . Davian can’t be real. He’s so perfect, how could he be real?

“I . . . What if you’re not real?” I mutter, Davian’s hands trembling softly as I open my eyes.

“I am,” Davian whispers. He doesn’t seem to think I’m crazy, I was expecting him to look at me and think I was just some weird girl. But he isn’t, he’s looking at me like I matter, like my thoughts matter.

“Okay,” I murmur, letting my forehead fall onto his as I listen to the world around me. To the world that I still don’t know if I want to live in.

I don’t want to hurt Davian, not after everything he’s done for me. But what are the chances we’ll always be together? I mean maybe I should just end everything, before he can break my heart.

“Keep doing it,” I whisper as he lifts his head off of mine. “Keeping saving me.”

Davian smiles a small, sweet smile that makes my heart shatter. I can’t do this to him, I can’t want to die.

Davian leans his face close to mine, quickly leaving a kiss on my cheek.

Just like the first time he did it, I feel like I’m falling a million times down a hole. But not a dark hole, a light hole. A hole with light at the end of the path.

I smile back as Davian pulls his face away. Before he can stand up I lean over and kiss him right where he kissed me.

And it feels so amazing I can’t even being to describe it. The only words that come to my mind are: _I love Davian. _