i start slamming my head on the table whenever i reread rirae and get to // Ricky takes a breath, his voice wavering just slightly. Narae has all her clothes on but she feels utterly undressed. “It mattered to me,” he whispers, “because you saw yourself in me. When you painted wings onto my back, I saw what you wanted. I saw you too. And I found myself in you, because you showed me your heart when you gave me that painting, and our pulses echoed the same.”