[14:18] The snow felt harsh and unbearably cold as more fell and made contact with your face. You didn’t know you could ever feel so cold until this moment. You could feel yourself becoming void of emotions as your then boyfriend, Mark, kept explaining what he was feeling. “I just don’t think I should be in a relationship right now” he said. His words kept echoing in your ears. “You were great, you didn’t do anything wrong. My brain just hates me and I need to figure out all these issues” he reiterated. You kept staring at your own two feet as the two of you kept walking. You couldn’t get any words out. “I just wanted to bring this up to you and talk to you about it to see what you think” he said. You still couldn’t get any words out. You were afraid if you tried to speak your emotions would betray you and you’d choke up. You didn’t want him to see you cry, even in this situation. It just felt wrong. After a minute of walking in complete silence, you finally were able to form a sentence. “I want you to do what’s best for you” you said. You already knew at this point that he had made up his mind. He’s breaking up with you and that’s that. If you had to be the collateral in order for him to try and deal with his issues, then so be it. You knew it couldn’t be helped at this point. He would just suffer more. No matter how much you had the urge to scream and cry and tell him that you need him, that you don’t want him to leave you, you knew you couldn’t be selfish. The two of you finally looped back to where he asked you to meet him. You let him know that you were going to get back to doing work, and before you parted ways, you told him a quick “thanks for everything” and he in response simply said “thank you too”. The second the two of you split and you watched him walk away, you turned your back and felt the weight of everything that just happened come crashing down on you. Not being able to hold it in anymore, you stood there in front of the library, quietly sobbing in the cold as you felt your heart tighten and ache.











