Ethic was visibly injured - not physically, but her reaction harmed him. He opened his arms, inviting her to assault him.

“Get it out,” he said.

Alani pushed him. She punched him. If she had a gun, she would have shot him where he stood, but it wouldn’t have taken this feeling away. She crumpled to the ground, sobbing.

“Goddd,” Alani moaned, so stricken that she felt like she would be sick.

He swiped his hand over his mouth, wondering how he could remedy this. If God was real, he needed him in this moment. He needed God to fill her with some type of forgiveness.

He sat on the ground and pulled her into his arms. She was limp, void of all fight, as if she had exhausted all the strength she had left. Or perhaps, he had exhausted it. Maybe loving the representative and meeting his truth had depleted her. He didn’t know, but he was grateful that she was no longer on the attack.

She melted into him, crying into his chest so hard that he was sure she couldn’t breathe.

“I’m so sorry,” he whispered. She gripped his shirt, as her chest rocked with grief. She was ashamed. Ashamed of the fact that she was still there, in his arms, and that these strong arms comforted her strangely. Ethic was the only one who could ease the hurt because he was the man whom had caused it. She knew it was backwards, she knew it wasn’t right, but melting into his embrace as she felt his racing heart, anxiously awaiting the next words she would speak, feeling his tension, his desperation, his angst, as he held her. They had always connected through touch, and this moment was no different. It was the most confusing thing she had ever felt, and she was ashamed. As a mother, she should want revenge, but all she wanted was to feel him, to have him take some of this aching away that he had put on her. He sat with her between his legs, stroking her hair, as he tried to commit as much of her to memory as he possibly could. The feel of her against his body, the scent of coconut Shea Moisture in her hair, the sound of her cries, he wanted it all retained in his mind, like a secret that he would never share. Ethic knew, once they climbed up from that floor, that he would never get close to her again. She would never allow it and he had no one to blame but himself. He kissed the top of her head, breathing her essence in. He knew every second that lingered on was her gift to him because she should have left the moment the words fell from his mouth.