you noticed one day — the first time we really saw each other after everything — the way i smiled and said "morning!" so cheerfully. you said i looked happy. i stopped on the stairs, and we finally looked at each other — a real look, not a glance, one that took in the whole picture — and after a moment, i said, "i think i am."

it was the start of something. of knowing you in a different way. my soul was closer, but my heart kept its distance. and that was the way it should have been from the beginning.

i never really needed you. i didn't even want you. i wanted to know you.

and i wanted you to feel the same.