7.

I would say that this was never meant to happen but that would be a half-lie. From the very beginning, I made the conscious decision to stay close - and since then, it has been difficult to do otherwise.

How was I to know that you were a tangled frenzy of emotions, drifting through like a thunderstorm - intermittent flashes? Could I have expected that hurt and longing was what seeped through the paper boundaries, rendering those in proximity disorientated and sometimes empty? 

It is difficult to judge the "what if"s when the times for choices have long come and gone. I am far too late.

6

Acutely aware. Thus the paradox of avoiding someone while hoping they'll notice you.