I'm a sucker for you

[Jack Ripley]

You are too.
You don't even seem to notice it because you're so busy curling yourself up so small that you hope nobody will notice you.

I noticed you as soon as I saw you.
And maybe that was the soulmate business
But I think anybody smart enough to really look at you could see it

[Brayden Smith]

😳 Now I'm the one blushing

I know I'm not everyone's type but I'm glad I'm yours 😊

[Jack Ripley]

Heh.

Believe me, B when I say this.
I've met all kinds of people.
Not many are beautiful inside and out.

Not many at all.

[Brayden Smith]

Well it's funny you say that, Jack Ripley, because that's what I think of you!

You're elegant and beautiful
Incredibly charismatic and a romantic at heart
You're our one and only Harvard grad professor!

And you have so much love in your heart

You cared about people even when you thought you were the one doing all those terrible things. You wanted to care.

You are a real prince

My prince 😌

[Jack Ripley]

No you're my prince. :)

All that love comes from a whole childhood of starving for it
I couldn't get enough of it
Whenever I had it I wanted to hold onto it
Even to my detriment.

You may not notice it
But you're teaching me new things every day.

[Brayden Smith]

But you learned to love people back
All on your own
That's incredible.

So many people starved for love lash out at others. They get angry and become bitter. Not you, Jack. Your heart was too pure to let the way others treated you turn you into a hateful person. 

[Jack Ripley]

That's because instead of getting bitter and angry, I turn to alcohol.
Not much better, honestly.

I wish I had a pure heart like yours.
I feel like mine is battered, rather.

[Brayden Smith]

Not better but not worse. Being bitter and angry can drive people away for good and I'm sure you would never want that.

My heart's been broken a few times in the past too, and nobody's been able to put it all back together except you.
I'm doing my best to mend yours. :) It may be battered but it still knows how to love, so there's hope yet!

[Jack Ripley]

I tried to push you away but it didn't work. Sad face or happy face? Because I'm happy it didn't work.

And you are.
I don't think anybody has had this much power over my heart ever.
No pressure. ;)

[Brayden Smith]

Happy face. :) I can be pretty hard to get rid of sometimes.
Plus I don't think you really wanted me to go away. Deep down you wanted me to stay.

Your heart is my heart, Jack.

[Jack Ripley]

...
My heart is your heart, too, Brayden.

And I never wanted you to go away.
Naively, I thought we could be friends at least.
See where that got me.

[Brayden Smith]

We could have been friends if we weren't so crazy stupid in love with each other. Haha
But feeling the way I did about you even back then, being friends would have been a terrible, awful thing

[Jack Ripley]

I would've done something stupid anyway.
Get drunk, spill all the beans.
I don't think you can hold that kind of thing in for very long.

[Brayden Smith]

As I recall you did get drunk haha
And you did spill the beans! :P

[Jack Ripley]

You see?
It would never work for me!