One time long ago, I was stressed about an assignment and my parents were try and failing to be helpful. Eventually I found a corner and cried. I hadn't cried in years, it felt great, it felt real.
And them someone I love heard me. They asked, "do you want me to go?". Not "are you okay?" "Can I help?" "What do you need?". To be fair sometimes times you need space and they knew this. But the fact that the only thing they could offer me was, what felt like, abandonment, it hurt. I no longer felt proud that I let myself cry for once.
I felt weak, I felt attention seeking, I felt wrong.
