"You know what I liked about Aaron?" I asked as Christian squared off to the bag again. He hit it harder than before, but that wasn't exactly unexpected. The thought of one's girlfriend and her ex could do that to a guy.

"What's that?" he replied, pretending his reaction hadn't been obvious.

"The same thing I despised about him - he's harmless."

Christian frowned in contemplation, silently considering my statement through another couple punches.

"He was safe for Lissa because I knew he'd never hurt Lissa," I explained. "It wasn't just that he would never want to, it was also that he would never be capable of it. He didn't touch her heart. She liked him, but she didn't feel for him. She never cared enough about him to get too worked up if he'd ever slipped or said something stupid.

"I know he adored her - still does, I guess. But it's infatuation, not love. It doesn't make him stronger, it doesn't make him want to be a better person. He'd never fight for her. He doesn't have what it takes to stand beside her. There's no thick-and-thin, better-or-worse with him. He'd give up on her. He'd walk away.

"She's a mystery to him, and if he ever figures her out, there goes all the awe and wonder - all the magic that keeps him interested. He doesn't know her, and part of him knows he never can. If he ever does, he'll wake up, open his eyes, and the dream will disappear. To him, love just means romance. He doesn't get it.

"He doesn't get what it's like to be connected to a person. To understand them. To love them - wholly. To love their strengths and their weaknesses. To love the broken parts too. Not to see them as some perfect goddess, but as a person. Real. And fragile, and beautiful for it."

Christian nodded. He understood.

"I like that you're not him. Because you'll fight for her. You'll protect her. You'll stand beside her. Because you're stronger together. But . . . you touch her heart. You have a hold on all the most fragile parts of her. You're not safe for her because you can hurt her. You can break her."

"And you can't protect her from that," Christian said, proving that he understood things a lot better than most.

"No," I agreed dismally. "No, I can't."