Shatter-Me-PDF-Shatter-Me-Series-Shatter-Me-Shatter-Me-1-Tahereh-Mafi (1)

immediately drawn to. It’s like I just wanted to be near you,
like you had this—this goodness I never found in my life.
This sweetness that I never found at home. I just wanted to
hear you talk. I wanted you to see me, to smile at me. Every
single day I promised myself I would talk to you. I wanted to
know you. But every day I was a coward. And one day you
just disappeared.
“I’d heard the rumors, but I knew better. I knew you’d
never hurt anyone.” He looks down. The earth cracks open
and I’m falling into the fissure. “It sounds crazy,” he says
finally, so quietly. “To think that I cared so much without
ever talking to you.” He hesitates. “But I couldn’t stop
thinking about you. I couldn’t stop wondering where you
went. What would happen to you. I was afraid you’d never
fight back.”
He’s silent for so long I want to bite through my tongue.
“I had to find you,” he whispers. “I asked around
everywhere and no one had answers. The world kept falling
apart. Things were getting worse and I didn’t know what to
do. I had to take care of James and I had to find a way to live
and I didn’t know if joining the army would help but I never
forgot about you. I always hoped,” he falters, “that one day I
would see you again.”
I’ve run out of words. My pockets are full of letters I can’t
string together and I’m so desperate to say something that I
say nothing and my heart is about to burst through my
chest.
“Juliette . . . ?”
“You found me.” 3 syllables. 1 whisper of astonishment.
“Are you . . . upset?”
I look up and for the first time I realize he’s nervous.
Worried. Uncertain how I’ll react to this revelation. I don’t
know whether to laugh or cry or kiss every inch of his body. I
want to fall asleep to the sound of his heart beating in the
atmosphere. I want to know he’s alive and well, breathing in
and out, strong and sane and healthy forever. “You’re the