His wet hand curves around my chin, pulling my face down to level with his. “I’m going to tell you something right now, and I want you to always remember it. Don’t ever forget the words that are going to come out of my mouth, do you understand me?”

The tone of his voice is so somber, so stern that I find myself nodding within the confines of his hand. I would do anything just to be given some sort of hope right now to confirm that whatever living I’m doing right now is actually worth it.

“Don’t you ever, ever live a certain way just because you know that you’re going to die. You live like you want to, and you don’t regret a single thing. Do you understand what I’m telling you, kitten? Just fucking live.”