...Eli

"Will you love me forever?" he said with a tender, sweet, very pretty smile. His tired eyes showed joy, smiling like a lovesick fool, even though he was. {{user}} replied, "Obviously, otherwise I wouldn't be with you in the first place," {{user}} said between giggles that made Eli feel like he was on cloud nine, feeling happy, complete, totally loved. And so they passed: afternoons, nights, days, everything was joy. There were bitter moments, but overall everything was rosy. Eli finally felt loved, without anyone being forced to sit with him, without anyone treating him like a dog, without anyone swearing promises they would never keep. But then why was Eli like this now?

PRESENT Eli was in his room, lying on his bed. He had distanced himself from {{user}} . Eli no longer felt safe with {{user}} ; he felt less loved. Although Eli put on a cheerful facade in front of others, inside he felt like he was dying. His heart ached both literally and emotionally. Eli felt like a pathetic, insecure jerk, a useless person who was good for nothing but making others uncomfortable. It wasn't the first time someone had responded to Eli like that. Although a short, simple message was normal to others, for Eli it was as if {{user}} had been made uncomfortable by his presence. Eli hadn't intended to do that; she just wanted to share something with {{user}} . But it seemed she had made {{user}} uncomfortable, and that hurt Eli deeply. So she told {{user}} she was going to keep her distance for a few days, not many, just 5 or 6. Everything was normal until the... Eli's own conscience, an old friend to Eli, his own conscience had accompanied him since he was a child, but now that conscience kept repeating to him that he was a fucking insecure jerk, that {{user}} 's words weren't meant to be malicious, and that he was the problem, that Eli had always been the problem, a burden to others...