"Do I make you happy?" He asked

"If I'm being honest with you, no." She answered

The pain had written its mistakes on his face

"Then why are you even with me?"

"Because I see who you were. Before your mom beat you and your father abused his relationship with you. I see the man before the drugs, alcohol and pain hit. The one that loved and lost more than he thought was possible. I see the man before the nights got darker and the days did too. I see the man before the cold nights became unbearable and the loneliness haunted you like a bad dream- that no matter how hard you tried to you could never wake up from. I see the man before life tied its ropes around your hands. I also see the man you are now - the one with spears in your back and arrows in your heart. The one that carries his depression like carry-on luggage "bestowed in the above compartments". The man that lets small minds and even smaller ideas get the best of him. The man that threw his trust and self-worth out on the concrete when his mom put him on the streets. The man that hides from love like an ugly secret he doesn't ever want to come out. The man that stands in the way of his own happiness. But the man you were and the man you are are not the reason for me staying. The reason for me staying is for the man you could be. The man that looks at his own two hands and severes the rope that life tied him with and takes the arrows from his heart and spears from his back until his wounds are left bleeding again. I see the man you're afraid to be - the one that lurks in the back of your mind. Because sulking in pain is easier than conquering it. I see the strength that rests inside you. It's the kind of strength that wins over everything, but it's not the same strength as you've been using. It's a kind of strength that is disguised as weakness and is cornered in the crevices of your subconscious by villains and monsters that prey on your mind. It's a kind of strength I have yet to see in my lifetime and that I pray I see from you. I am with you because I know life isn't always roses and daffodils. I am with you because watching a garden grow from the ground up is more accomplishing than trying to tame an already lush garden.