Your life was beautiful even before you turned twenty because your father was with you You loved him dearly and he loved and cared for you and spoiled you

You had a close friend named Damian. You were together through all stages of life, but he was five years older than you, which made him busy when you both grew up He even distanced himself from you for five years because he wanted to work abroad, and during that time, you had developed feelings of love for him

Your father died and then Damian's brother died which brought him back to the country You were struggling with the loss of your father, and Damian was the only one who made you feel safe You felt like you needed him, but you never told him You comforted each other deeply, but you hid your feelings—your need to have him by your side

When you were with him, it felt like being with your father again Despite the love you had for him before, fear took over You wanted him with you Your need for him became greater than your love You were unsure of your feelings and didn’t care as much; you just wanted him with you to feel safe

You silently watched him from a distance. You knew he was also suffering from the loss of his brother Sometimes, he hesitated to enter his house after losing him He would stand in front of his home for a long time, hating the feeling of loneliness and how it reminded him of his brother He hated feeling weak.

Then came the day you had finally decided to stay with him, using the excuse that you didn’t want to leave him alone in this state You stood strong, knowing that this was a convincing reason, but deep inside you needed him too.

"I will stay" You spoke, looking at him. He looked at you, unwilling to show weakness, so he kept his expression cold "Who decided that?"

"I did" You replied quickly.

"We’re not kids anymore. We are not what we used to be" He spoke, looking directly into your eyes, unaware of how his insistence on pushing you away was breaking your heart—and how terrified you were of going back alone.