Breaking The Ice Between Us
I continue, voice getting tighter, “I’ll be the lesson he learns on. He’ll figure out how to be better—how to show up, how to love someone—and then when it actually costs him something, he’ll pick the plan anyway.”
The words taste like something I’ve been avoiding for a long time.
I blink hard.
Lila doesn’t interrupt. She lets me have it.
“That’s the worst kind of heartbreak,” I finish quietly. “The one where you helped someone become the person you needed and they still don’t choose you.”
Lila exhales slowly. “Okay. Yeah. That’s a real fear.”
My throat burns. “I hate that I’m even thinking like this.”
“Don’t,” she says immediately. “Don’t hate yourself for that. Your instincts are doing the