There are fifteen ways for you to love him.

1. When he disappears to that place you can't reach, hold his hand and wait for him to come back. Stroke his skin to remind him it's not an open wound.

2. Don't ask him where he went.

3. If he wakes up screaming again, thrashing you to consciousness beside him, pretend you didn't wake with him. Pretend, when he falls back asleep, that you have no idea it happened. Pretend not to know what he was dreaming about.

4. The next time you touch him and he flinches, ignore it. Take your hand away and smile softly, ask him what he's reading, sit down beside him and don't say anything when he curls into you.

5. Never tell him you're sorry. It won't help.

6. Love him even when he doesn't love himself. Love him when he does.

7. Run your fingers over his scars and pretend not to feel them. Don't wonder where they came from. Don't say anything when you know.

8. Give him space when he needs it. Learn to recognize when he doesn't.

9. Ignore the blades you find in the trash. They're an ending, not a beginning.

10. Smile at him, even when you know he won't smile back. Keep doing it, even when it seems like he doesn't want you to look at him.

11. Take the 3 AM call. Don't mention the time.

12. Hold his hand, press it to your chest, and show him what a heart feels like. Show him what living feels like. Let him match his breaths to yours, no matter how long it takes.

13. When you show him what a first time is really like, make sure he remembers that this is a first. This is his first. Touch him like he's stronger than you are. Hold him like he isn't something fragile.

14. Remind him that he's beautiful, just in case he doesn't know. Just in case he forgets. Just in case someone else has made him think differently.

15. Keep loving him.