Page 200 of Glitched Play

"So many times..." I whisper, unable to stop staring at her. "I wondered what your voice really sounded like when you weren't hiding behind a computer."

My hand lifts almost on its own, brushing a strand of pink hair behind her ear before settling against her cheek.

"It was you."

Not a question.

Not a theory.

A fact.

I smile through tears I'd forgotten were falling.

"It was always you."

She leans into my palm, her eyes closing for the briefest second. "I wrote that."

"You did."

"I..." Her hand flies to her mouth. "I forgot about that letter."

"I didn't."

She looks around the room.

"You kept all of them?"

"Every one."

"For ten years?"

I nod, wiping a tear running down her cheek.

"I thought..." She laughs softly through it. "I never imagined..."

She gestures helplessly toward the bed.

"This."

"I searched for you."

Her eyes snap to mine.

"I thought it would be easy, confident of my hacking abilities. But we made it impossible to find each other. It was safer that way. But after a decade I knew you were meant to be in my life then you… you disappeared."

"I know. I had to." She wipes another tear away.

"I had to live in the real world. Even though I didn’t want to be in the real world without you. I needed to look into someone’s eyes and hold their hand. Wanted someone to lay on the couch and watch baking shows with.” She shakes her head. "I thought silence was safer for my heart."

"It wasn't."

"No." A sad smile touches her lips. "It wasn't."

I glance down at the letters surrounding us.

Every hope.

Every fear.