And then he said,
in an almost whisper,
‘is this where you start to drift away?’

I could feel
the swelling of emotions
in my throat
and the heat of my tears forming
as I replied ‘no’.

My heart hurt because he knew me so well.
He knew I pushed away
when I was hurt by someone.
This man who knew my soul and loved it.
Knew.
He knew exactly what I would do.
And that is what I did.

This time
it was away
from him.