#Chapter 26: What’s the difference between love and obsession?

I smooth Alston’s dirty blonde hair, whispering my sorries into the curls. I try not to shutter while I am in his embrace but I fail spectacularly. I can’t keep my voice steady, or my body from trembling as I pull him into my chest as if the tighter I hold him the more real he is. The more alive he is. “Elise,” he whimpers, his voice small and weak. His hand shakes as he brings it to my hair and smooths down the waves. “Don’t cry.” I don’t recognize the damp streaks pouring down my face until his thumb is running past them. I shook my head away from his steady hand. He shouldn’t be comforting me. “Elise, I’m all right,” his voice is as strong as he can make it but I shake my head, looking at him incredulously. “You’re such a liar.” He chuckles, but it tumbles into a cough and I hold my breath, pulling him away from my chest for the first time I got in this cell, and looking at him in the moonlight. I mean really looking at him, and the sight is horrific. The moonlight casts a