“I can’t really explain it, Emily it’s just that - I’ve been really struggling”. Ryan sits on her bed slinking into the corner, physically withdrawing further. “It’s okay, try to help me understand” she says back, reaching to place her warm hand on his shoulder. Emily hadn’t used her powers on him before, and she never felt the need to in this relationship. But she could tell Ryan was deeply conflicted, and normally so eloquent, he was at a loss for words.

The moment her fingertips came into contact, Emily winced. It was as if a loud static channel volume had been cranked up to maximum. How could anybody’s voice make it through that noise. She closed her eyes, as she crawled closer to Ryan and took him in her arms. The crackling ever so subtly lowered, and she could begin to hear him - his true voice. It was faint, and muffled, but she heard it.

“I don’t want us to break up - I don’t want us to break up” was all she could hear, and she felt Ryan’s heart beating rapidly still.

“I know we have been dating a while, and there may be rough patches, but I want to be with you during it all.” She calmly spoke, attempting to quell his inner doubts. But nothing could prepare her for what was about to happen. “I do too, babe” Ryan half-heartedly smiled, but another voice chimed in the background “If she was ‘the one’, that would have been easy to say, but it wasn’t. Maybe I don’t love her after all”.

Emily’s heart plummeted and she shuddered. “Is - is something wrong?” Ryan asked, visibly confused at the response to his affectionate words. Emily’s eyes began to water, and she felt her own heart rate increasing. “I just realized the time, I’m sorry I didn’t mean to startle you. I have my exam tomorrow and I need to prepare still, so maybe it’s best we talk about this later?”

“Oh yeah I’m sorry I totally forgot, you told me about this one earlier. I’ll let you get to it” he slid off the lifted bed and shuffled toward the door. Putting on his shoes, he looked over at Emily with her arms crossed and smiled. “Want to do lunch after you crush that test?”

“Maybe”