"I think she’s scared. This…you are something different for Shane. You’re fresh and exciting and frightening."

"I don’t want to be frightening."

"I know. Just give her some time to think things through. She’ll come back to you."

"Well, when will that be Jenny? I’m not going to wait around forever."

I completely agree. Why wait any longer? Be with me, I’ll never leave you. Then again, that might become a problem seeing as Shane and I live together and Shane is my best friend. That might be hard for everyone. "And you shouldn’t have to wait forever, but you should wait a little longer. I know this sounds so clich, but if you really love something, you should set it free–"

"Oh that helps a lot–"

"Wait, you didn’t let me finish. People like Shane can’t be held down. They need a lot of attention and love, but they also need a lot of space. It would be like putting a leash on a wild animal and expecting it to just sit there."

"You know Jenny; this isn’t really making me feel better." Carmen said with a small laugh.

I stop and turn to face her and I can’t help my hands from resting themselves on her shoulders. "Listen, if you put a leash on a wild animal, you can be sure that it’ll die. But, if you let it run free every once in a while, 99.9 % of the time it will come back to you. Understand?"

It took a second for Carmen to process what I said and then she does the most unexpected. She leans her head on my shoulder letting out a frustrated groan. "You’re right." She says, her head still buried in my shoulder. I wrap my arms around her for a second and give her a tight but comforting squeeze and it takes almost all of my strength to take my hands off her. I just want to hold her and breathe in her scent; breathe in all of her.

She finally takes her head from my shoulder, but continues to lean into my body. Looking up at me, I think I see her look at me the way she used to when we dated. It’s as if her eyes can see right into me, right into the soul that’s trapped behind repressed memories, a shitload of angst and black eyeliner. Her soulful black eyes burn a fire in my heart.