Defy Me

You think these recent events are everything. You think Aaron fell in love with your friend of several months, a rebel girl named Juliette. You don't know. You don't know. You don't know that Aaron has been in love with Ella for the better part of his entire life. They've known each other since childhood...…..The reason he had to keep wiping their memories was because it didn't matter how many times he reset the story or remade the introductions - Aaron always fell in love with her. Every time. - Delalieu

I love you, Ella. I will love you for the rest of my life. My heart is yours. Please don't ever give it back to me. - Warner

The reason he had to keep wiping their memories was because it didn’t matter how many times he reset the story or remade the introductions— Aaron always fell in love with her. Every time.

Marry me,' he whispers. I stare at him, disbelief and joy colliding. And it's the look in his eyes —the hopeful, terrified look in his eyes— that nearly kills me. I'm suddenly crying. I clasp my hands over my face. A sob escapes my mouth. Gently, he pries my hands away from my face. 'Ella?' he says, his words barely a whisper. I'm still crying when I throw my arms around his neck, still crying when he says, a little nervously— 'Sweetheart, I really need to know if this means yes or no—' 'Yes,' I cry, slightly hysterical. 'Yes, yes to everything with you. Yes to forever with you. Yes.

I can't remember a single time in my life when someone apologized to me for hurting my feelings. No one has ever cared about my feelings long enough to apologize for hurting them. In my experience, I'm usually the monster. I'm the one expected to make amends.

Aaron always fell in love with her. Every time.

Happiness does not happen. Happiness must be uncovered, separated from the skin of pain. It must be claimed. Kept close. Protected.

It's not insane to imagine that sometimes even horrible people are searching for a way out of their own darkness.

In this new, turbulent reality, the one person I recognize is him. My memories of him - memories of us - have done something to me. I've changed somewhere deep inside. I feel different. Heavier, like my feet have been more firmly planted, liberated by certainty, free to grow roots here in my own self, free to trust unequivocally in the strength and steadiness of my own heart. It's an empowering discovery, to find that I can trust myself - even when I'm not myself - to make the right choices. To know for certain now that there was at least one mistake I never made. Aaron Warner Anderson is the only emotional through line in my life that ever made sense. He's the only constant. The only steady, reliable heartbeat I've ever had. Aaron, Aaron, Aaron, Aaron. I had no idea how much we'd lost, no idea how much of him I'd longed for. I had no idea how desperately we'd been fighting. How many years we'd fought for moments - minutes - to be together. It fills me with a painful kind of joy. - Ella

Have you ever heard of Blue Streak?" I blink at him. "That's the name of a movie?" "Romeo Must Die? Bad Boys? Rush Hour? Rush Hour 2? Rush Hour 3? Actually, Rush Hour 3 wasn't that great. Tangled? "That last one, I believe, is a cartoon about a girl with very long hair, inspired by the German fairy tale Rapunzel." Kenji looks like he might be choking. "A cartoon?" he says, outraged. "Tangled is not a cartoon. Tangled is one of the greatest movies of all time. It's about fighting for freedom and true love.

I love you, Ella.' I whisper. 'I will love you for the rest of my life. My heart's yours. Please don't ever give it back to me.

I want to remember to celebrate more. I want to remember to experience more joy. I want to allow myself to be happy more frequently. I want to remember, forever, this look on Aaron's face, as he's bullied into blowing out his birthday candles for the very first time. This is, after all, what we're fighting for, isn't it? A second chance at joy.

And I realize then, in a moment that terrifies me, that I want this, forever. I want to spend the rest of my life with her. I want to build a future with her. I want to grow old with her. I want to marry her.

I know I'm petty and I don't care. - Kenji

Tangled is not a cartoon. Tangled is one of the greatest movies of all time. It's about fighting for freedom and true love.

He smiles. "You know- I feel everything when you touch me, love. I can feel your excitement. Your nervousness. Your pleasure. And I love it," he says quietly. "I love the way you respond to me. I love the way you want me. I feel it when you lose yourself, the way you trust me when we're together. And I feel your love for me," he whispers. "I feel it in my bones,

It was obvious, every time he put them in the same room. They were like magnets.

I'm not trying to get you to sleep with me. I just literally had to lie down. Thank you for appreciating my face. I've always thought I had an underappreciated face. - Kenji

This is, after all, what we're fighting for, isn't it? A second chance at joy. - Ella

I feel it, I feel my thin morals dissolving. I feel my flimsy, moth-eaten skin of humanity begin to come apart, and with it, the veil keeping me from complete darkness. There are no lines I won't cross. No illusions of mercy. I wanted to be better for her. For her happiness. For her future. But if she's gone, what good is goodness? - Warner

That you could love me at all seems like some kind of miracle." She smiles, even as she shakes her head. "That's ridiculous," she says. "It's very, very easy to love you." -Warner and Ella

Forgive me. I know it all seems stupid now, but I don't want to take anything for granted anymore. Forgive me for hurting you. Forgive me for not trusting you. I took my pain out on you and I'm so sorry. I was selfish, and I hurt you, and I'm so sorry. - Ella

Aaron Warner Anderson is the only emotional through line in my life that ever made sense. He's the only constant. The only steady, reliable heartbeat I've ever had.

I don't think you should treat me like this, like I'm some idiot nothing, just because I don't know how to be a douchebag. - Kenji

You eat like a caveman." "No, I don't," he says angrily. And then, a moment later: "Do I?" Warner to Kenji

You know —I feel everything when you touch me, love. I can feel your excitement. Your nervousness. Your pleasure. And I love it,' he says quietly. 'I love the way you respond to me. I love the way you want me. I feel it, when you lose yourself, the way you trust me when we're together. And I feel your love for me,' he whispers. 'I feel it in my bones.' 'I have loved you my entire life.' He looks up, looks at me with so much feeling it nearly breaks my heart. 'Ella,' he says, his voice rough with feeling. 'I want to spend the rest of my life with you.

Right now all I want is this. I just want to be here. With you. Whatever comes next, we'll face it together.

If you want nice Kenji maybe you should check back in the morning, because right now all I've got is jack shit in the way of pleasantries. - Kenji

We're going to find time for happiness. Because how can we stand against tyranny if we ourselves are filled with hate?

Today is not forever. Happiness does not happen. Happiness must be uncovered, separated from the skin of pain. It must be claimed. Kept close. Protected.