Ruthless Devotion

"You know nothing!" I screamed through tears. "You're a liar! A fucking liar!" My voice broke into sobs. I shoved her into the wall, her shoulders hitting the white boards, my fingers burning prayers into them. "Tell me - what does it feel like to be so alone? So lost? What does it feel like to be so disgusting?"

"It feels like you!" Her fingers twisted desperately into the fabric of my clothes. "Like loving you for as long as I can remember, even though every single day terrified me! Like knowing you would rather burn than admit that you love me back!"

I couldn't find my voice. Every thought left my head the moment the words left Lottie's pink lips. Time stopped. It froze every mistake ever spoken, every sin ever committed, every pitying glance, every promise that had never been kept.

Everything-except me.

Because finally, for a single moment, I had the courage to cup Lottie's face in my hands and press my lips to hers. Courage, not right.