I do

For the first time in my long history of writing, I've gone back on rule number one: No deleting.

After writing an unnecessarily lengthy wall of text about why I have to do certain things and can't do others and all the logistics behind how my life essentially isn't going to unfold, I realized that all I needed was the very first line:

"You must have loved me," she says. A small part of me grants the slightest smile. The majority of me just reaches up and scratches out "have" and "d."

Yes. As insane and illogical as it is, I do.