"I felt horribly fragile, like one word could shatter me."

 

        "I don’t trust myself to be… enough. To deserve you. There’s nothing about me that could hold you." He stopped and reached around to pull me from his back. His gentle hands did not release me ; after he’d set me on my feet again, he wrapped his arms tightly around me, hugging me to his chest. "Your hold on me is permanent and unbreakable", he whispered.  "Never doubt that."