“Even now, you refused to be pixelated, forgotten, silenced, erased. Not that I wanted to erase you. The opposite. I wanted the opposite.”

“Seeing it erases any premonitions I might have had, because even if I felt something was wrong, I never would have pictured this.”

“Self-esteem can be so exhausting. I want to cut my hair, change my clothes, erase the pimple from the near-tip of my nose, and strengthen my upper-arm definition, all in the next hour.”

“I want to take back the secrets I told you so I can decide now whether to tell them to you again. I want to take back the piece of me that lies in you, to see if I truly miss it. I want to take back at least half the “I love you”s, because it feels safer that way.”

“I notice you, I want to say. Even when no one else does, I do. I will.”

“I want you to be honest with me. Even if it hurts. Although I would prefer for it not to hurt.”

“So I said I wanted you to stay, even though nothing could stay the same.”