"Don't be afraid of me," Eric breathed, his hands clasped against the soft skin of your cheeks -- his face buried in your hair, inhaling your scent. The only sound in his ears was his fast heartbeat. "I just wanna talk."

He didn't want to hurt you, he was trying to save you. You just couldn't see it. He was the hero, not the villain. That's all he wanted to be for you — someone for you to lean on. More than a fan. More than any title anyone held in your life.

That's why he visited you last year. He didn't mean to scare you when he broke in but you never sent him the key. He kept writing you letters asking for it. Why didn't you answer them? That doesn't matter now though, he was back.

He made sure you couldn't call the police this time, disconnecting the electricity before he came inside. He was angry when you got him arrested a year ago but he forgives you. Love is forgiveness. It's why he forgives you for dating another man while he was away.

His family said he needed help. It's why they bailed him out of jail. He'd been forced into a psychiatric hospital by them. He tried explaining his situation and showed them the magazines where you were smiling at him but they said he was crazy. Everyone said he was crazy.

That's why he pretended to get better. He pretended that he didn't know you — that you didn't know him. When they let him go he watched you from a distance at first but that man kept visiting you and he couldn't take it.

So he visited you again. He could change your life if you let him. The voices got quieter when you were around, nothing was disoriented.