“I’m here for you”

"It just hurts!" I sob into his shirt and, somewhere in my mind, immediately feel bad. He'll have to clean his shirt.

"I know." His voice soothes. "I know. Do you want to talk about it?"

My boyfriend is craddling me in his arms. They're wrapped around me protectively, as though he can save me from physical pain. But right now... it's the mental pain that is the problem.

I shake my head, burrowing deeper into his embrace. He smells sweetly of pine and smoke and I dimly remember that he has only recently come home from a camping trip. "Just hold me." I whimper.

"Always." He pulls me closer, resting his chin on my head, a movement I have always found comforting from him. We stay like that, him slowly rocking me back and forth. I don't know how much time goes by. All I know that for the first time in my memory, I finally have someone that I trust.