They were just three little words, right? How hard could they be to say? Just three little words: a subject, a verb, and a pronoun serving as a direct object. No, they shouldn?t be too hard to say.

Despite that, Jewell was having an untold amount of trouble saying them. They were there every time she looked at him, as she fell asleep within the safety of his arms, each time they parted. She was simply too terrified to give voice to them, to say them out loud. Oh, what power words have! And these three simple words had the power to silence The Empress before she could even say them. They stuck in her throat, clinging to the inside until they choked her to prevent expulsion.

She had reason to be scared, or so she reassured herself. Every time she uttered those three simple words?the subject, the verb, and pronoun acting as direct object?the whole world revolted, making her want to take them back. There was the first guy she ever loved, who took the power in those three words and abused it, abused her until she was a pitiful shell of her former self. There was Alex. How many times had they said those words to each other? They had reaffirmed their meaning again and again, but in the end they still couldn?t make it work. Then there was Skyler. When she finally had the courage to utter those three precious words to him, Death had shoved them back down her throat.

She was still getting over that, wasn?t she? Or maybe she was hiding behind her grief, afraid to move on, afraid to be burned again. She was afraid to give in, to acknowledge, and give a name to the feelings bubbling forth inside her. A little more time, just a little more time, she told herself. Yes, just a little more time to let these feelings grow and flourish, a little more time until she couldn?t possibly contain those three little words any longer.

A little more time and they would burst forth: I love you.