Goodbye to you

The bruises on my skin will fade fast. The bruises on my heart? Not as quickly. But fade they will. And the time approaches when things will change. Because things always change. Semantics aside, I didn't lie. I didn't even try to lie. And I suspect that you chose to forget what I said to you. I asked you for nothing. I still ask for nothing. Nothing more than what we have. I stood in the rain, and I told you the straight, unvarnished truth. I love you. Without boundaries. Without limits, and without complications. And it scared you so much that all you could tell me was that you can't be that man for me. I didn't ask you to be anything for me. I'm still not asking you to be anything.

My heart is whole again. Bruised, to be sure. But no longer broken. The gaping wounds of the past are gone now. The scars will fade now, and the pain of the injuries I've carried for so long can heal. I won't try to say that I don't feel anything. That would be a lie. I will say that what I feel and how I'll handle it are my concern, and that I will be fine. You need not fear for my injury. I'm stronger than that.

I knew what I was getting into. I have no regrets. And when it ends, I'll still have no regrets. Because I'm whole now. Because I have back what I lost, and I can move forward without regrets, and move on. With or without you, I have that now. You gave me that.

You've given me a lot of things. Then. Now. Always. A way to be someone who could love, even though I did it wrong the first time. Someone who could be gentle, and kind and loyal. Someone who was valued for more than what I believed. You gave me a reason to believe in myself, and to trust. I'll still have that.

And in the end...I still have you.