"Ich liebe dich, mein kleiner Kase..." Words I regretted the second the left my mouth.

We do not speak the words that betray our feelings, not aloud. Not to each other. It is enough that we risk our lives to be together - enough that we have our secret apartment where there is a piano and a fiddle, a now-fixed coal stove, and the occasional bit of burnt breakfast toast. It is enough that time winds down when we are together, so that every second seems to hold its breath. Enough that we can find faith in each other's arms - the faith we have lost in the world.

It was inexcusable of me to speak the words aloud that day in December, that day when I drank too much and slept too little. I have not repeated my mistake.