...love was and opportunity, not a burden.

But the walls weren't just inside of him.They were between us.I didn't know how to breach them.

But the wall weren't just inside of him.They were between us. I didn't know how to breach them.

Everyone wants you here. We have a saying in Farsi. It translates ‘your place was empty.’ We say it when we miss somebody."I sniffed."Your place was empty before. But this is your family. You belong here.

Chip scooped her up mid dash and swung her up to cover her face with kisses.She squealed and laughed and said, “Nooo!”Chip stopped. “No?”“ Not now.”“Ok.”Chip set her down and she scampered off into the kitchenI liked how he respected her boundaries, even though she was a toddler. I thought that was really cool.

How could I be a tourist in my own past?

Don't ask me, we never did anything other than kissing.”“Really?”“Yeah,’ I swallow the frog trying to hop its way out of my esophagus.“Landon wanted to, but I wasn’t ready.”“Oh.”“Sorry I can’t help.”“No!” He smiled and his shoulders unclenching. That actually helps a lot… I was just worried I guess.”“Why.”.”I don’t know. It just seemed like we were supposed to want it.

I dont know why it bothered me, the way he said it, like I had to want sex. There were lots of people who didn’t.

I wanted to know what our family's stories were. I wanted to know the things Mom wouldn't think to tell me. Things she knew but never said out loud, because they were a part of her. I wanted to know what made the Bahrami family special.

I had never been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder, but Dr. Howell said that anxiety and depression often went hand in hand. Comorbidity, he called it. It was an ominous-sounding word. It made me anxious.