He Still Loves Her

No one asked him how he felt and he had no reason to offer it to anyone if they had.

Maybe if someone had made him believe he was open to talking he would have said he never stopped loving her and then engaged them about whether he should write “loves” or “loved.”

Loved sounded like past tense but everyone knew it wasn’t what he meant, it was just what was said to protect himself.

As certain as he was about it and her he couldn’t help but retain enough uncertainty to wonder if he should protect his heart so he said “loved” and not “loves.”

Figured it was easier to hide in plain sight and pretend that he was as cool as they came.

But he wasn’t.

Sometimes at night when the lights were low or turned off he would let himself believe that maybe dreams could come true.

He’d close his eyes and review a checklist of reasons why it had worked, could work and might yet work again.

But daylight would come and he’d once again slip into his armor and pretend that his tiny black heart had stopped beating.