Rules.

Some people say they are meant to be broken, but not these ones.

These are designed to protect me, to make sure I never feel the pain I did almost ten years ago.

The dull but present pain I still feel every time my past taunts me.

From the loyalties that have remained broken, I built my walls high and tall, creating these rules to make sure all hearts, most of all mine, will stay guarded.

That was the plan at least, until she came along.