"But I love you,Jesse," he says as we sit on the couch in my living room, his voice quivering and unstable. His pleading eyes look directly in mine, begging my forgiveness. I don't recognize these eyes that once provided me with a sense of comfort and security. The warm blue of his eyes that used to reassure me of a love that would last forever is replaced with a colder gray. I shiver and look away.

Tears cloud my eyes as I feel him breathing next to me on the edge of the couch. My mind wanders to a time a year earlier, a happier time, when I had also been acutely aware of his breathing as we sat on that same couch. My heart pounded that day as I glanced nervously into his eyes, unable to hold my stare, yet unable to look away. It was...