<i> “Rachel...you need help.” </i><br />I laugh and it’s the same bitter laugh I remember him giving when we met so many weeks ago. <i> “So do you.”<br />“I love you.” </i> Isaiah says it so simply that my heart soars and sinks at the same time.<br /><i> “I love you,” </i> I whisper. <i> “Did you ever think that loving someone could hurt so bad?” </i><br />Isaiah shakes his head and stares out the window.<br /><i> “What’s going to happen to us?” </i> I ask. Because I don’t know how the two of us can continue forward. Isaiah refuses to let me in. It’s sort of cruel. He’s brought me close with his stories of his childhood and with his words of love, but he can’t relinquish control. I refuse to be with someone who won’t treat me as an equal.