I… What are you saying, Zsadist?" she stammered, even though she'd heard every word.<br /><br />He glanced back down at the pencil in his hand and then turned to the table. Flipping the spiral notebook to a new page, he bent way over and labored on top of the paper for quite a while. Then he ripped the sheet free.<br /><br />His hand was shaking as he held it out. "It's messy."<br /><br />Bella took the paper. In a child's uneven block letters there were three words: I LOVE YOU<br /><br />Her lips flattened tight as her eyes stung. The handwriting got wavy and then disappeared.<br /> <br />"Maybe you can't read it," he said in a small voice. "I can do it over."<br /> <br />She shook her head. "I can read it just fine. It's… beautiful."<br /><br />"I don't expect anything back. I mean… I know that you don't… feel that for me anymore. But I wanted you to know. It's important that you knew.