Tyler later asked Emma if they could start over. She thanked him for defending her but chose not to date him again.
“I’m glad he’s trying to be better,” she said. “But I don’t have to be his girlfriend to be happy about that.”
That evening, Emma asked Daniel whether he’d known what Tyler was going through when he invited him to dinner.
“No,” he replied. “I just knew you were watching how we handled it. I didn’t want you to think loving someone meant shouting at them until they agreed with you.”
“Did you want me to break up with him?” she asked.
“I wanted you to know you had a choice.”
“Even if I still liked him?”
“Especially then.”
A few days later, Emma came downstairs wearing a short-sleeved shirt. She wasn’t tugging at her sleeves or studying her arms anymore.
She grabbed an apple and headed out the door.
