Sometimes lines blur. A look. A laugh. A touch. Innocent at first, not so much now. Blurry, smudged as if by an artist's hand, a shadow of the line that used to be. Two people brought together when each one needed the other. Adversaries working toward a common goal at first. Slowly building trust, a partnership. Each bearing some of the other's load, making life's journey easier for both of them. Trust grows, friendship blossoms. Hard days spent working side by side, trying to find answers to questions that seem impossible at times. Driving, guard is lowered, somehow it is easier to talk about difficult things then. Things better left unsaid are said with a glance, a brush of the hand instead. Meals shared, alcohol drunk. Each of them coming closer to the line, both afraid to cross it. The decision is out of their hands now, an emotional avalanche. They slide towards the edge without even being aware of it. More and more time spent together, unknowingly closing others out. Some would call it a surrogate relationship, that each is too afraid to try with another. There is fear there, yes, but it is fear that they will lose everything they have. They are the most important people in each other's lives. He has taught her to trust, made her a whole person when she thought she would remain broken forever. She has saved his life more than once, been there for him when he needed help he couldn't ask for. They are better because of each other. His laugh is soft like velvet and rumbles deep in his chest as his warm brown eyes gaze into hers of blue. Their eyes speak the words their voices can't find. And a little more of the line fades.