Chapter 44

“No, L. You keep misinterpreting me," he said with a note of anger in his voice. "I would never regret meeting you. I would never have regretted giving you shelter. You deserve to be happy and you deserve to have a life that is proud. You're not ready to deal with a person like me. That's why I think we should end all this in an easier and friendlier way. I don't want you to have to worry if I'm going back home, or if I'm going to take a walk around a high place and throw myself away from it. I don't want you to stop going out with your friends because I'm unable to feel comfortable among them. I don't want you to stop having a normal life, just because you fell in love with someone who has been dead inside for years. I just don't want you to influence yourself, I don't want you to give up."

"Do you remember the speech I made in that theater?" I asked in an angry voice, rising from the bench. "Did