The trip to McGonagal's office took longer than Harry had expected. He was now hurrying to his therapy session, which he was already ten minutes late to. The sessions were already too short for Harry's liking, he wanted to talk to his partner all day, and he knew that the last twenty minutes of the session were going to evaporate in the blink of an eye.

"Was beginning to think you bailed on me," Theo said as soon as Harry burst through the door.

Harry took a seat, "Yeah, I'm sorry about that. Something came up."

"Something bad?" Theo inquired with a worried tone. Harry kind of liked the idea of his partner being worried for him, "No, nothing bad in particular. My meeting took longer than I had planned," he assured him, taking off his glasses and wiping the steam that had formed on the rims of the glass with the end of his shirt. It either happened when he sweated a lot or on sweltering summer days. He made a mental note to ask Hermione if there was an anti-steaming charm for his glasses.

"Meeting, huh? What are you, the upcoming CEO?" He laughed, and Harry joined him. He was like a breath of fresh air for Harry. Anything he said was like music to his ears.

"No, not really. I don't want a job requiring a lot of responsibility and pressure. I've had my fair share of it," he professed, putting back his glasses and aligning them perfectly so that it's above the bridge of his nose.

"You sound like an old grandpa," he noted with a smirk.

"Who knows? Maybe I am one."

"Then it makes sense why I enjoy listening to you," Theo consoled but quickly bit his tongue, fearing that his partner would take it the wrong way.

Harry quickly looked down, trying to hide his pink flushed cheeks. Even if he knew that his partner couldn't see him, he still felt the need to hide his blush. Hide it from himself. He couldn't comprehend why a comment coming from a complete stranger made him feel this way. Ginny's comments never did. Cho's either. When Ginny made positive comments about him, it would make him feel content, but that's it. He rarely blushed at things she'd say and wouldn't even feel super aroused when they kissed or slept together. Hell, he even started having some symptoms of erectile dysfunction, which he had never suffered from up until mid-August of this year.

Harry tried to play it cool and not acknowledge his comment because if he did, he really didn't know where the conversation would lead. But, most importantly, he was scared of opening that gateway to the unknown. He felt okay where he stood now, "You like listening to old men?" Harry asked, arching a brow.

Theo let out a low scoff, "Of course I do. You don't?"

Harry was taken back by his question, "I've never really thought about it, but yeah, I guess-sometimes. It depends on the context, of course."

"I like listening to their experiences," he started, loosening up his tie that felt too tight for his liking, "Their stories. Divorces. Marriages. Affairs. Business failures. Successes. All of it."

Harry thought about what his partner had said; it did make sense, "I really admire that, you know," he declared, "Many people our age wouldn't really think about these kinds of things or be willing to listen to elderly people like that."

"I know, and It's pretty sad, actually. I feel like many people constantly talk about dumb shit, and whenever I eavesdrop on people's conversations, it's all meaningless. My best friend is the only person I feel I can talk to about things that matter. I've also been getting better friends with this other girl, and I feel like I could talk about things with more meaning with her as well, but we're not at that level just yet," Theo felt like he was going to start ranting forever if he didn't stop now.

Harry didn't really mind the conversations he was having with people. It felt pretty normal to him, but when he really tried to recall one meaningful conversation he had had since he was back at Hogwarts, it probably was the one he had last Saturday with Hermione. Hermione was one of the only people alive that he was able to form a deep connection with and could dive into deep talks easily. The others whom he felt the exact same with were Sirius and Fred. He tried to fight back the tear that was trying its hardest to prickle in the corner of his eye. Losing Sirius had been very hard for him because he finally felt like he had a father figure present, and he was taken away from him too soon and Fred had always been there for Harry when Ron couldn't.

Whenever he felt worried or scared, he reached out to Fred since he didn't want to bother Ron or Hermione. Fred was the brother Dudley could never be for him, and now he was gone too. Voldemort had taken half of the people he cared the most about.

"Yeah, I've also been very close friends with this girl ever since I came to Hogwarts, I see her as a sister, and she's also the only personI can talk about most things with ease. She's a great listener and has been by my side through thick and thin," Harry was really grateful that Hermione was in his life. He would do anything for her.

"That's nice that you have someone like that," Theo noted, checking the time to see that they only had ten minutes left, "Last ten minutes," he reminded him.

Harry glanced at his clock and cursed at himself, "Unfortunately." Theo's lip quivered with a ghost of a smile, "What do you think would happen if we go overboard with the time?"

Harry asked.

Theo had never thought about that, but he assumed that McGonnagal would cast some kind of spell to either remove them from there or to make sure that they didn't stay longer, "I don't know. Care to find out?" he suggested, hoping he would say yes.

"I don't see why not," Harry smiled and looked over at the clock again. 9 minutes left.

"Want to play a game?" Theo queried.

"Sure," Harry nodded in agreement, crossing his right leg over his left one.

"Okay," he started, "I want you to pick someone from eighth year, but don't tell me who it is. I will ask you questions to find out who it is, to which you'll answer with either yes or no."

"So it can be anyone from only eighth year, right? And if you guess the person, I have to tell you who it is?" Harry wanted to clarify if he got the rules correct.

"Correct. Okay, I'll give you thirty seconds for you to find someone," he said and turned his gaze back to the clock.

"Okay." The first person that came to mind was Hermione, but that would be too obvious. Himself? Would that be too conceited? Luna? Ginny? No, maybe Ron? Still too obvious. He could do Cho, but it felt weird since it was his ex. Maybe the Parvati twins? Or Malfoy? That could be funny. Oh, yes, of course. He knew. He chose Theo Nott.

"Thirty seconds is up," he announced, "Are you ready?"

"I am," Harry declared.

"Okay then. Is it a guy or a girl?"

"A guy."

"Hmm. Are they popular or more reserved?"

Was Nott popular? He had no clue. He hadn't really paid much attention to his social status. He mostly saw him with Malfoy, but still, he assumed that most people were aware of his existence, "A bit of both, I'd say,"

"Do they have brown eyes?"

"Nope,"

"Blue?" That, Harry, didn't know. He was never able to get a good glimpse of Nott's eyes. He knew it was a sort of blue-green mix, but maybe he was wrong, "Kind of."

"What does that mean?" Theo asked, confused. Was it a mixture?

"I'm afraid I can only answer with yes or no. You made the rules, not me," Harry responded, grinning.

"Hmm. Is it like a mixture of blue and something then?"

"Yes."

"Are they dating anyone?"

Something in Harry hoped that it wasn't the case, "No? Not that I know of. Shit, are these types of answers okay, though?"

"Yes, it works if it's not specific at all," Theo assured, "Do you even know this person well?"

"Not really," Harry wished he did.

"Hmm. Are they in Hufflepuff?"

"No."

"Gryffindor?"

"No."

"Ravenclaw?"

"No."

"Well, there's only one house left," he noted, "They're in the elite house then. Slytherin."

A person would only call their house elite, only if it was their own, or if they wanted to be in that house. That one word made Harry feel closer to finding out who his partner was. Harry made sure not to comment on his disagreement with his statement on Slytherin being 'elite', "Yes."

Theo, who realized what he said, cursed under his breath. He crossed his fingers, hoping his partner didn't clock the hint he had just bestowed upon him so freely. There were at least two hundred male Slytherins in the eighth year, so it would still be difficult for him to find out his identity, but still the hint did narrow down his options significantly "So you agree?"

"On what?"

"That Slytherin is elite", he stated.

If Harry said yes, then it would make him believe that he was in Slytherin, but if he said no, then his partner would be sure that he wasn't part of Slytherin or that he just wished he was in another house. Harry thought about it for a second, "That question has nothing to do with guessing who the person is." he noted.

Theo wasn't expecting him to escape his trap question, "Do they have black hair?"

"No."

"Blonde?"

"No," cross Malfoy out of the list, Theo thought.

"Red hair?"

"No."

"Brunette?"

"Yes," Harry confirmed.

"Barnaby Lee?"

"Nope."

"Noah Mason?"

"No."

"Adrian Pucey?"

"Still no."

"Anthony Goldstein?"

"I thought he was in Ravenclaw," Harry said, scratching his jaw.

"Right–Are they below six feet?

Nott was definitely not below six feet; in fact, he had at least a fifteen-centimeter gap between him, "No,"

"Archie Meyer?" Theo never liked that guy. He always found him irritating.

"Nope."

He could say his own name and give it a shot, "Theodore Nott?" It felt weird saying his full name rather than Theo.

"Finally!" Harry exclaimed.

"I got it?" Theo was shook. What were the odds?

"Yes." Theo imagined for a brief second declaring that he was, in fact, the person he was trying to guess, but it would surely ruin the fun of it. Again, he was scared that this impulsive decision could ruin everything for them and that their friendship would never be the same again. Or that they wouldn't be able to talk with each other so freely. But, he was also curious about why his partner had chosen him out of all people. Or did he secretly know it was him behind the wall? That thought made him feel slightly paranoid, "Why did you choose him?"

"Euhm. I don't know. Was just a random pick," the scarhead blurted, not knowing what to say.

"Hmm, okay," he spun his head toward the clock, "Oh, we're one minute over."

Harry glanced at the clock as well, "For how much longer should we stay?" he asked.

"I don't know. Maybe five more minutes. I'm quite certain that something is going to happen, and we're somehow going to be moved outside," he professed.

"Okay then," Harry said.

They both impatiently waited to see what would happen, and when the clock struck five minutes past their initial ending time, they were each apparated back onto their own beds.

Theo smiled and knew that from now on he would always use this technique to not have to walk back to his room after every session. It did take him ten minutes, after all.

…

Hermione woke up to the intoxicatingly beautiful smell of a dozen of her mother's red velvet cupcakes standing by her bedside table and a warm cup of vanilla oat milk latte. She wondered how on earth her mother had managed to get the cupcakes here. She assumed that Ginny had helped her in some way.

On top of one of the muffins was a post-it note.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HERMI!

I'm sorry I couldn't be with you when you woke up. You know I have quidditch practice. I'll come to find you the second I'm done.

Love u, Ginny

Hermione's lips quirked upward, forming a smile. She took the note and stuck it in her journal. She loved collecting these kinds of things and promised herself to look back at everything once she turned thirty.

She sniffed the cupcakes and let the nostalgic smell infiltrate her nostrils. Satisfied, she unfolded the cupcake liner and took a big bite, covering the tip of her nose with vanilla frosting. Yup, just like she remembered. It was so good that she ate another one. She knew the batch would vanish in two days' time max.

Hermione was just heading to the bathroom when she tripped over something. She looked down, and it was a gift box. Reaching into her short pockets, she grabbed her wand to mumble a charm to cut through the box. Hermione's heart fluttered at the sight. In the box were half a dozen jars of Nutella, wrapped into a cooling container. Between two containers was a letter from her parents.

Happy Birthday, Sweetie!

We miss and love you so much!

Enjoy the chocolate, but don't eat all of it in one go, or your dad will have to fix your cavities.

Love,

Mom and Dad.

She knew that a warning like that would come from them. They couldn't help themselves. Her parents were never good at writing letters, but this was enough for her. At least they tried to put in the effort and understand her reasonings on why she obliviated them. The recovery was still slow, but Hermione hoped that her relationship with them could resemble how it was before.

After getting ready, she was about to head to her new class when she almost tripped over something else. She really needed to pay more attention to the ground.

Gold Roses, inside a white porcelain vase with a black tiger design, were left in front of her doorstep. She counted the number of flowers. One, two, three… eighteen. She found a note attached to the stem of one of the roses. Hermione had never gotten this many letters before.

Actually, that was a lie; she did get sent letters daily for her war efforts or people saying how much they looked up to her, which Hermione questioned since she didn't really see what others saw in her. She saw herself as someone with no outstanding accomplishments, nothing extraordinary. Along with the letters came Howlers, probably from Voldemort supporters or ex-death eaters. It wasn't as bad as what Harry got, of course. They even counted the Howlers one day, and it was above four hundred. Four hundred. Poor Harry, she thought. She always wondered if Malfoy had ever sent her a howler before.

Hermione snapped back into reality at that thought and opened the letter in her hands.

Happy Birthday Golden Girl

A.P

Adrian. Hermione's cheeks flushed a tint of pink, and she picked up the vase and put it by her window. She sniffed them, but they didn't smell as good as the cupcakes. On that thought, she took a third one and ate it whilst she walked to her first lecture.

After class, on her way to her group meeting, she spotted Adrain talking with one of his comrades. When he spotted her, he mumbled something to his friend and caught up to her.

"Happy Birthday," he said, offering her a cheeky wink.

"Thank you," she bit her bottom lip to hide her smile, "The roses were really nice."

"I'm glad you liked them. The gold seemed fitting," she made a face nodding her agreement.

"Where to?" he inquired, following her steps mindlessly.

"The library," she answered, readjusting her cloak to prevent it from touching the ground.

"Studying on your birthday?" From the look on his face, Hermione could tell he was surprised. She guessed he didn't know that studying on her birthday was pretty typical for her, "I have a project."

"But still, do you really need to study on your birthday?" he insisted, "Wouldn't it be nicer if I took you on a date? Anywhere you want. You name it."

Hermione, who had already declined, didn't like how much he insisted, but his argument was fair, and he really was trying his best. But still, she couldn't really figure out his sudden interest in her. She still remained a bit suspicious of his intentions, "If you think that eighteen roses will make you secure a date with me, then you're mistaken" the words came out a bit harsher than she had intended.

If he was hurt, he didn't show it, "So you counted them, huh?" he asked, grinning. Hermione was surprised at how fast he could turn conversations into flirting.

"Maybe," she said as they were entering the library, "See you around," she said in a tone to terminate their conversation, hoping he would clock the hint. He leaned in, and before she could even take a step back, he had planted a kiss on her cheek, "What are you doing!" she exclaimed, pushing him back. She wasn't expecting him to do that. She didn't like him being in such proximity to her.

His eyes flashed in surprise, "I–I thought I'd give you a kiss," he explained with a blank expression.

"Don't ever do that again, you–you–"

"What's going on here," she heard Malfoy approaching her from behind and flinched at the sudden sound.

"I–He," Hermione couldn't find the words, "He–I–Nothing," she didn't want him to know what had just happened because it was none of his business, but she couldn't hide the fact that she was somehow glad that someone had shown up, but deceived that it had to be Malfoy.

"Why don't you mind your own business," Adrian said through his snarled lips.

Malfoy, who grew visibly irritated, spat, "Nobody tells me what to fucking do."

"Oh, is that right?" he arched his brow, "You followed Voldemort's order pretty well, though," he growled through gritted teeth, and Hermione's jaw dropped at the comment. Malfoy was all sorts of things, but that comment was too much, even for him. He didn't deserve that. Hermione closed her eyes shut, not wanting to see what would happen next.

She watched as Malfoy's knuckles turned bright white and could not unsee how hard he clenched his jaw, trying to keep the dragon inside him from unleashing. She didn't know if she should pull him back. She was afraid he would throw her to the other side of the room out of anger. She took a leap of faith and did it anyway, hoping he would let her pull him back. Hoping he wouldn't jeopardize his cool because of some dumb comment. Because of her. She would never forgive herself. Yes, that's it. The only reason she did it was solely for selfish reasons and had nothing to do with him.

Hermione reached for his arm, but his eyes were deadlocked on Adrian. She pulled his arm tighter, but he made a quick motion that let her grip loose. She was no longer holding him, "Adrian, can you please leave."

"I'm not going anywhere," he protested. Still, eyes locked with Malfoy, "He can, though."

"I'm not fucking moving," She didn't want to deal with this bullshit on her birthday, so she thought of the only possible thing that could make Adrian back off, "If you go, I promise I'll go on a date with you," she sighed. It really was the last thing she wanted after witnessing how cruel he could be.

"Looks like you've made a deal I am unable to resist. Deal," he said and did a captain salute before leaving.

When Adrain's footsteps were no longer audible he spoke, "You have poor fucking taste in men," Draco noted, readjusting his black suit.

Hermione couldn't believe what she heard, "Are you serious right now?" her nostrils flared out of frustration, "It isn't like you gave me a fucking choice!" she exclaimed, "I just saved your ass from possibly getting expelled, and this is how you thank me?!"

Malfoy scoffed in disbelief, "Looks like someone is delusional today. Did you really think I would beat up someone for you?"

"I–You looked like you were about to," Hermione tried to rewind her memory to go back to what happened one minute ago. He clearly looked on the brink of beating him up, so she did what she did to save him—calling her delusional! What?

"You're not worth that much to me," he said, and he could see from her expression that he had hurt her. He didn't know why he said it; he just did. Was it true? Yes. But did it need to be said? Not really. But he can't change back time now, so he had to live with it.

They silently walked back to their group table, and Hemione tried to keep herself together. She couldn't even have one day without any conflict in her life. She had one special day, and of course, it had to be ruined somehow. She wished she was surprised, but it just wasn't the case.

She hated Malfoy, yet his words had really sparked something in her, like a snake shooting their venom.

"Who is the bastard that told you Santa wasn't real?" Theo asked, analyzing their sunken facial expressions.

Hermione scoffed at the comment and took a seat.

"Why is my Golden Girl sad on her birthday," Theo leapt to Hermione's side, taking a seat.

Draco mumbled an inaudible Fuck. Any day of the week, he wouldn't care that much of what he had said, but he wouldn't have done it if he knew it was her birthday.

"It's nothing," she tried to convince herself more than him. She watched as Malfoy took a seat across from them.

"Right, and I'm James Bond," the dark-haired wizard said, rolling his eyes. Hermione bit her cheek to stop smiling, "That's it. That's my Golden Girl. Let out that bright smile of yours now," he said, gently tucking her curls behind her ears for her. She flinched at first, but her gut told her to trust him and that he wouldn't harm her. Feeling a bit uncomfortable, she leaned to the other side, trying to create some distance. Theo, who had noticed, leaned back in his chair, trying to give her as much space as she needed. She was glad he was the type of guy who could see the little hints. Usually, none of the men in her life tended to notice the hints she gave.

"Okay, so you know what Geometry and James Bond is but not the Bible?" she laughed, and he rolled his eyes, "Ugh! Not this again, Goldy–Wait– I actually like this nickname. Goldy. Yes–Okay. I'll call you Goldy from now on if that's okay with you?" Just because he asked, Hermione nodded in approval. No one had asked her before, and it helped that she didn't really mind this one. It had a good ring to it, a positive one. One that could remind her of her value whenever she forgets it, which tended to be quite a lot.

"Okay, Goldy. I've got a gift for you," he got up from his chair and took out a gift wrapped in gold and red wrapping paper, "Thought the wrapping was suitable," he smiled, placing the gift in front of her.

Malfoy wondered how the hell he even knew it was her birthday today and when they had become so friendly with each other. Theo was his only friend, and the last thing he wanted was to have to procure somewhat of an alliance with Granger if the two became closer to each other. Or what if he fancied her? He couldn't even picture them together.

"Theo!" she exclaimed, her eyes flashing in surprise, "You really didn't have to."

"Yeah. Yeah. Don't get too excited. Maybe you're going to hate it," he suggested, shrugging.

"I highly doubt that," she assured, spinning her head towards Malfoy, who was watching her," Unless, of course, Malfoy swapped the gifts last minute."

"Such big accusations coming from such a tiny mouth," he noted, "Besides, I didn't even know it was your birthday." It was his form of indirectly apologizing for what he said earlier, but why did he even feel the need to apologize? He did speak the truth, but why did he feel bad for it?

"Why would you?" she said, tearing up the house-themed wrapping paper.

"Exactly," it was a form of closure for her.

"Stop!" she said in shock, looking over at Theo. He had gifted her the first edition of Hogwarts: A History . Malfoy squinted his eyes to read the book title, "How did you get the first edition? I looked everywhere but could never find it," Hermione got up and hugged him tightly, "Thank you. Thank you so much. This means a lot to me," she embraced him even tighter. Theo hugged her back; she did give really comforting hugs.

"You're welcome, but you should stop thanking me or else my ego will burst through the roof," he said smiling, breaking off the hug, and she laughed.

"How did you even know I liked this book? It was the first book I read after discovering that I was a witch, and it remained my favorite ever since then," she said, still unable to wrap her head around how he had found it.

Malfoy, who was finally able to read the title, chimed in, "Maybe because you had your head buried in it all throughout the first and second year."

"Second that," Theo said, looking at his best friend suspiciously but refraining from making a commentary. He made a mental note to ask him why he knew that, later.

Hermione was surprised that Malfoy had paid attention to what she was reading back then, "Oh, come on, I wasn't buried in it."

"See, that's you being delusional again," the blonde noted matter of factly, and she rolled her eyes, "Fine, what if I was buried in it. So what? It's a really good book," she said, her nose in the air.

"Sure," Malfoy scoffed, shaking his head.

"It is," she insisted, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Whatever, I'm not going to argue with the birthday girl–"

"Birthday Girl?" Everyone turned their heads to see Angelina, "Sorry I'm late. It's your birthday Hermione?"

"Yes," she replied.

"Happy Birthday. I'm sorry if I knew I'd buy you a gift."

"It's totally fine. You don't have to," she assured, "Theo already gave me a great gift, and I really don't need anything else" she laughed, and Theo blew her a kiss.

…

After working on the project, they all had to attend a monthly meeting McGonagall had organized in the Great Hall. She went over the new regulations in Hogwarts, and in the rest of the wizarding world, acts for inter-house unity and about an upcoming voluntary trip to the Beauxbatons academy.

After the meeting, she returned to her room to grab another cupcake before her therapy session. They were addicting, and Hermione was a bit frightened of the weight she would gain from eating so many of them in one day already.

She tried to stop her disordered eating mind from poisoning the joy she felt from eating them, but it was very difficult. She told herself to enjoy it now but cut what she would normally eat tomorrow in half. She couldn't deal with a bloated image of her the following morning when she did a mirror check. It would send her self-esteem spiraling down, and she didn't know if her mind could recover from it easily.

She only ate half and put the rest to eat in her therapy session in case things got silent again between them.

They both entered the room at the same time and sat down, crossing their right leg over their left. Anyone who could see them both would've thought they were imitating each other because of how perfectly synchronized their actions were.

Hermione came in with zero expectations today. Zero. She didn't want to be disappointed because of her partner today. She wasn't going to let them get on her nerves. She would remain calm the whole session and nibble on the rest of her muffin for strength.

"I said something I shouldn't have today," Draco commenced; he felt like his therapy partner was the only person he could tell this without having to explain why. Hermione, who was about to have another bite, stopped midway, her open jaw inches away from the muffin. This was the last thing Hermione expected them to say. She didn't say anything back since all of her responses or questions seemed to infuriate them and drive them off.

"Why aren't you saying anything?" he asked after a minute of silence between them.

"Shitty, isn't it? Not getting a response," she pointed out, smiling triumphantly.

She heard him let out a scoff, "You know, for once, I was up to try this therapy shit, but you had to ruin it, of course."

"Yeah. Let me be the one to ruin it for once. You can't always be the star of the show," she said, taking her bite.

"Is that what you think I'm trying to do?"

Hermione answered him honestly, "I don't have a clue of what you've been trying to do ever since the first session," saying that lifted a weight from her chest. It was true. She had no idea. She didn't know what to say, what not to say, how to act, how to talk, how to approach him. He seemed to get off at the most random things. She constantly felt like she had to walk on eggshells in his presence. She felt constrained.

Draco didn't know how to respond to her confession, "What do you mean?"

Hermione rose to her feet and started walking. Walking made her thoughts flow more leisurely, and she expressed herself better, "Well, "she commenced, "First, you don't have any manners–"

"Ha! You calling me mannerless when you were the one who arrived late," he cut her off.

"This again," she sighed, "If you could just have listened for once in your life, I meant to say that you don't know how to greet someone properly. You didn't say Hi back to me the first time we met. I had high expectations of having a decent conversation with you that day–"

"Not my problem that you had high expectations," he cut her off again.

Hermione turned to face the magical wall, "Are you going to let me talk?" she asked, tapping her foot rhythmically out of frustration. She waited for him to protest, but when they didn't say anything, she continued, "Yeah, I am aware that I am culpable for having high expectations, but can you blame me? I thought I would be able to express my emotions and bond with a stranger guilt-free, but all you've done is been insufferable and done the complete opposite of what this program was meant for."

"I never asked to be a part of this program, and last time I checked, no one is being forced to abide by what this program is meant for. Everyone is free to do whatever they want, and I don't want the same things as you. I don't want to express nor bond with you. I want to be left in peace," he even questioned if he really meant what he said.

"Why? Why don't you want to heal? To let go? To be relieved, instead of keeping everything inside," she begged. She wanted to help them, to listen, to be there for them.

"Who said I keep everything inside? Maybe I just don't want to share it with you," he pointed out, loosening his tie.

"If you can't even share it with a complete stranger, then I really don't think you share your feelings with other people," she asserted, pretty confident that she was right.

"Maybe that's the problem. Maybe I don't want to share it with a complete stranger. Maybe I want to confide my feelings with people I know and that I trust."

She paused to think about his words, and it did make sense, but still, for her, it was more logical to share her feelings and thoughts in this way, without them knowing who she was, "I get your point, but then I hope that you do have people that you trust and feel comfortable sharing your feelings with. But, just know that the day you decide to confide in me, I will be here to listen."