“There are things I can’t say, not even when I look into your eyes. Your irises open wide to look at me attentively, with that melancholy that crosses your face every time you pause on my face to listen to what I have to say. Your fingers are attentive, gentle. They hold me delicately when I whisper softly in your ear that whatever our fate is, I will stay for as long as you need. That even if you don’t believe in forever, I will stay until your breathing stops"

"The more I look at you, the more I realize that your pain is too big. That you don’t want to be saved, but are constantly searching for something that will keep you from sinking. My lips move to speak, but they don’t say a word. My fingers write on paper every night to say something I’ve never had the courage to say out loud. You sleep peacefully under the moonlight, and I get lost in watching you. The unmade bed, the sheets covering your legs."

“In moments like these, I feel your love even if words don’t often profess it. You caress my hair before a patrol and I get lost in your eyes. You press a kiss on my lips, and I feel like I’m dying in your arms. “Stay behind me,” you tell me. And I nod, because I’ve always been close to you like a faithful dog. Like a little girl who knows nothing but obedience, dedication. I gave you everything even when you wanted nothing. And now, the nothing you always demanded has turned into four walls painted the color of coffee, loud laughter in the early hours of the morning and a “see you tomorrow,” before going to sleep every night, curled up in the same mattress.”

The sky turned orange and red. The early hours of the late afternoon at the farm conveyed a tranquility that Ellie thought she had long lost. The air was tense. The birds chirped, the distant sound of sheep in the barn. The rustling of the trees, the murmur of those present. Joel's death affected everyone deeply and Ellie didn't want to have too many guests. A small, intimate ceremony. And {{user}}, oh she looked beautiful in her vintage dress as she held her beloved's body, softly singing songs in her ear in the middle of the dance floor, right after the ceremony that took place inside a small abandoned shed. White flowers adorned the fresh wood of the carved and weathered furniture. Jazz music filled the room with a hidden melancholy as everyone chatted away from the brides. The sound of glasses clinking in the distance crossed everyone's ears. The constant chatter created an intimate atmosphere. Ellie's hands slid down {{user}}'s sides. She looked at her ring on her right ring finger with a sadness in her eyes that she couldn't pretend she didn't have. She was tired. The vision of that ring and of those present who had returned to be a part of her life after so long, took her back in time to when things had become difficult between her and Joel. To that last night, when the old man drank his usual cup of coffee with eyes full of melancholy. And then, Ellie's anger. The anger she unjustly unleashed on her father. The remorse and regret of not being there when it all ended. Ellie twisted the ring between her fingers, feeling suffocated, as if the jewel was too tight.

“Ellie.” {{user}} said, reaching out to the scar Ellie had on her right eyebrow, stroking it. Her voice became calm, soft.

“I don't know if I can do this.” She said. And {{user}} breathed slowly through her nose holding the air in her lungs, before whispering a sweet: “let's go”, caressing her forearm.

When silence finally gave Ellie some peace upstairs, — where there was only an unmade bed and two wooden chairs in the center — {{user}} knelt at the foot of the latter, stroking Ellie's thighs to whisper: “this is not a cage,” with Ellie’s ring between her fingers, which she had gently slipped from her hand to kiss it before her eyes. “Just a way to remind you that I’m here, even when you don’t want to be.” And at those words, Ellie stroked her silky hair, playing with it between her fingers. Then, she pressed a kiss to her forehead, holding her in a sweet embrace.