"He looked at me and for a moment I felt that the world around us stopped turning. It wasn't just the way he held me, but the way he made me feel that I no longer needed to pretend. With him, all the defenses I had painstakingly built began to crumble one by one.
"I believe in you," he whispered, and those four words felt like they pierced my heart more than anything else that had been said until then. It was the first time someone saw beyond the image I showed to the outside, to my true side that I was afraid to reveal.
I knew that the road ahead of us would not be easy. There were ghosts from the past and obstacles that seemed insurmountable. Yet, at that moment, the warmth of his hand in mine was the only proof I needed that it was worth trying."
