[Report This]Date: June 02 2025 9:19 AM Title: Chapter 21 - In My Heart I Love Her All the Time
It's so adorable how careful Morgan is with Ben now that she knows it's him! The way she cupped her hand over him as she lowered him to the ground was really sweet but also a huge contrast from how she lifted him out of the water. Not that she was rough then, but now her every movement with Ben just feels so deliberate, precise, and careful, like tiny Ben is the most precious thing in the world (which, for her, might actually be the case!).
Between that and the way her fingers kept working over his body, gently stroking his arm and tussling his hair, the affection and comfort was obvious! And she even apologized when she realized she put him between her feet, suddenly a lot more conscious about things like that than she was before Ben revealed himself. That careful step right over him was great, too!
But the continuing heart-to-heart was the highlight of the chapter. That they were both afraid that the pure honesty they were showing each other might go away once they left that "bubble" was a bit of a bittersweet sentiment. It made the moment feel even more special, but it also reminds the reader of how rare such moments are. Even with everything out in the open, both Ben and Morgan aren't sure if they'll even acknowledge what happened here, let alone be more consistent with that level of honesty. Life is kind of weird like that.
Morgan's right that Ben is brave to want to wait until his next session with Angie to tell her the truth. I love how much Morgan seems to admire that! She's worried about how it might go, but she respects and understands why he wants to do it that way. It makes sense, too. I mean, if him being so vulnerable made Angie feel comfortable being vulnerable herself before, then it only stands to reason that him being vulnerable when telling her something that will make her feel the same way, should help ease those upset feelings a bit.
Speaking of vulnerability, Morgan telling Ben to be careful with both Angie's and her own heart shows just how fragile Morgan's emotional state is at the moment. She's putting on a strong front, but she really has leaned on three-inch-tall Ben over the last two chapters. Given what we know about Ben and how he responded to that here, I actually feel pretty confident that he will, in fact, be careful and try to minimize the pain that whichever one he doesn't end up choosing feels.
Gatsby was a great choice to introduce as the English assignment. And you even highlighted all the reasons why right here in the chapter! What stuck out to me most, though, was Morgan bringing up how everyone in Gatsby is pretending to be something they're not. That sounds an awful lot like what Angie said during her session with Ben, when she asked him if he ever felt like he was just playing a role rather than actually doing what he wanted to do. This was a nice way to bring that theme back to the forefront.
Great chapter once again! And once again, I'm thrilled you went with the decision to have Ben tell Morgan the truth! These last two chapters have been so satisfying to read!
Author's Response:
It's really great to hear that you enjoyed these chapters with Morgan!
I'm always a huge fan of girls that have a thing for their childhood friend (evident from my first ever story), so I wanted to give Morgan plenty of depth and time to explore her relationship with Ben. I did wonder in hindsight if I should have made her be more aggressive or taking control of the situation more when she has all the power over her tiny love interest, but that just wouldn't have felt right and I didn't want her to be that kind of person. It was the same thing like with the 'reveal or don't reveal', I just go with the first thing that comes to mind and hope people enjoy it that way. :)