'"I suppose I would rather tell her how she makes me feel."

"How does she make you feel?"

"I would tell her that I like her hands. I would tell her that I don't like being touched, but her hands are the exception. I don't like to be made fun of - and she's done that, many times, either implicitly or overtly - but I would take her ridicule over her not knowing I existed, any day. I'd confess I don't like being wrong about anything but I hope I'm wrong about her - she's not right for me, I know that, but I want her anyway. I would tell her that being back here is only bearable because she's here too and, for the first time ever, I don't want to leave. I wish I knew how to tell her how I feel without bringing on an ending of some kind, but I know it's inevitable. And I would tell her I understood if she told me she didn't feel the same way."

"That's how she makes me feel."'

Exhibit A on why I love reading more than anything. Because who the fuck says something like that in real life?