I wasn’t sure how long I cried. But my mom held me until my tears dried up. And until I stopped mumbling unintelligible things. Until I wasn’t even sure why I was crying in the first place. Axel Stevens didn’t love me back. And that was the end of our story.

“You are beautiful,” my mom said and pulled back. She put her hands on both sides of my face. “And smart. And witty. And any guy...”

“Yeah, yeah,” I said with a sniffle. “And any guy who makes me cry isn’t worth my time. Yadda yadda.”

She frowned. “Hm.”

“Hm? What do you mean by that?” Why did it seem like everyone responded to me tonight with hm?

“I know exactly what you need.” She slid off her stool and opened up the freezer. She turned to me with a smile as she held up a container of Ben and Jerry’s Chunky Monkey ice cream.

“Mom, what did you mean by hm?” I wiped at my cheeks.

She grabbed two bowls and scooped some ice cream into them. She walked back over to the kitchen island and slid a bowl in front of me.

I took the spoon she handed to me. “Seriously, what did you mean by hm?”

She sat back down and started eating her ice cream, like I’d just forget the whole thing.

“Mom.”

“I just don’t think I agree with that sentiment. I was going to say that any guy would be lucky to have you.”

I took a big bite of ice cream. “So you think that a guy making me cry is a guy worth my time?” This was very bad advice from a mother. Maybe I should be talking to Dad instead...

“I just think that if you’re upset enough to cry, that means you have real feelings. And strong emotions usually do revolve around love.”

“So you think Axel should treat me like crap and I should still love him?” Saying it out loud made my chest hurt. Because the truth was...I did still love him. No matter how much he hurt me. No matter how many times he rejected me. I just kept going back. I was sick in the head. And apparently my mom was too.

“No. I hate that he’s hurting you. A piece of me wants to call up his father and...”

“Don’t you dare call Uncle Tyler,” I said. I really needed to stop calling Axel’s dad Uncle Tyler. It was making all this incest phase stuff all too real.

She smiled. “I won’t interfere.”

“You swear?”

“I promise. But back to that phrase.”