I wish I was better with words and could explain this better to you. I know that right now, these are only words to you, but I hope you don’t tear this up and that one day when some of the pain has gone away, you’ll be able to look at this and know that I meant every word.

Though it pains me to not talk to you or see you, I will abide by what you asked and give you the space you need. Please know that I will be close by and I will do all that I can to make sure that you aren’t bothered by that woman and that there is no way that she causes you any harm.

I know that I’ve lost the right to claim to be your friend, but I am here if you ever need me or want to talk.

I love you. More than words can say, I love you.

Dana.

Chapter 33

There are times in life when you need to hope that Hollywood endings really mimic real life, you need to believe that the pain will soon be a distant memory. These are the moments when you the pain of a heartbreak crosses from the emotional pain to the physical pain. In those moments you don’t know how to keep on breathing with the pain in your chest. For Alice, reading that letter brought her there almost instantly.

In the last two days she has been angry at Dana, she has been angry with the stalker, she has been angry with herself, but with the exception of the moment when she received the picture, she hasn’t cried or allowed herself to be sad or hurt. OK, that wasn’t exactly the truth, of course she was sad and hurt, but she didn’t allow herself to feel the sadness or hurt. To feel it, to truly feel the pain would mean that she had to except it as real. To accept it as real is the first step towards getting past it. To get past it, she had to be ready to let Dana go. She knew that it would be quite some time before she would be able to fully let Dana go, but crying was the first step and it was a step towards something she never wanted or believed would be necessary.