❛Validation. A noun, used to describe the need for recognition or affirmation that a person or their feelings or opinions are valid or worthwhile. That's what he was looking for when he turned to her that night. In the dim glow of the moon, his eyes met hers for a fraction longer than they probably should have, and that second of doubt - he spoke three small words. Each, on their own, completely harmless. But strung together, those three words had the power to pull the earth from beneath her feet, and send her spiralling down into an unfathomable pit of silent hell. If he had really meant them - he wouldn't have said it at all. For to love someone, is to put their feelings above your own. To value them enough to have their safety - both physical and mental - as a priority. To tell her these words, was to break her. To ask her to betray everything she ever believed in to hold them. To give him the validation he seeked. For he knew that, indeed, she loved him too. Not in the way he did, but a love pure enough to swallow all fear of the unknown. To follow him into the dark - so he wouldn't venture there alone.❜
