She lifted herself up slowly and finally looked up at me. Her face was stained in tears, her eyes swirling with the most intense emotions and yet her expression revealed nothing I lifted my hand and placed it on her cheek, I needed her to know it was okay to feel whatever she was denying herself to feel. The longer she held my gaze, the softer her expression became. "Akari" she softly whispered "Yes sweetheart?" I encouraged She didn't respond immediately, she just held my gaze longer. Her eyes soon began to fill with tears and as I go to speak, she whispers words that left me frozen "I love you." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Elysian Monroe, was forced into motherhood at the age of 18 due to the unfortunate accident of her parents. Taking care of an 8 year old was no easy task but, doing it while you were 18 made things all the harder. She did it though, she had too. Now 24, Elysian still finds herself unable to grasp the concept of love. She became a relationship therapist in hopes of finding out more about the concept but, instead she's met with repeated attempts at what people call love. All attempts ending in misery and tears. She soon takes on a new case, a case that will have her questioning everything. Akari Davidson, 39 year old mother to a 4 year old daughter and a woman stuck in a relationship with her boyfriend of 10 years. She's been to multiple counselors, all telling her the same advice. She soon stumbles upon someone new and is immediately intrigued. She begins questioning the woman and soon, she realizes the woman doesn't take time to feel. Instead, she believes everything needs to be thought on for hours. While going through issues with her boyfriend, she continues to dig deeper into her curiosity of the woman that is Elysian Monroe •Warning: This book contains strong language, drug use, mentions suicide, mentions sexual assault and explicit content. {Please do not copy my work.} {UNEDITED}