>>2643992Man this thread reminds me of a girl I knew growing up. Hannah was her name. I just remember I first met her when I was 11, and a year later she got in a car accident. Burned the hell out of her shoulder and her cheek, somehow didn't FUBAR her eyes.
I remember thinking that she was isolated like me, so I went over to talk to her. We talked. I was isolated because of rumors and retaliation for bullying gone wrong, she was because of her scars. Both were idiotic reasons, we agreed. So we became friends. We listened to each other, trusted each other... She was my first kiss two months after we'd met. Six months, and we lost our virginity together. Eight, and we first said "I love you."
After about a year and a half of happiness, suddenly she started going downhill fast. Faster than I could appreciate. She asked if I wanted to break up, because "it's like dried leather on half of my body and I smell like ash". I told her no, because I didn't care, and that I never would. This wasn't a lie.
So, things carried on fairly happily for a few months after that. I got raped and killed one of the perpetrators. She just hugged me and told me it was okay. I'd spend my entire recess and lunch period just holding her because I knew how much being held reassured her; that was the only time her breathing wasn't shaky and nervous. But things started to worsen with her mood.After a while, she stopped wanting to be touched, to be held. We were strangers, again.
Then, one day after a month of near-silence, she kissed me in front of the bus stop, then said five words.
"I love you. I'm sorry."
She ran off and got on the bus before I had a chance to process what happened. The next day I found out she killed herself. This was about seven years ago, and I'm still not over it. Therapy didn't help. Something that did help, though, was Katawa Shoujo. I saw Hanako. And in her, I saw Hannah. I played thru it, and it felt like I got some closure- not really, but a tiny bit.
