when we were 16-17 or so, we met a friend who was 20, and later turned 21. we, hir, and an at-the-time friend (19-20, known since 17) were in an alterous polycule. we’ve always been abused by youth at our age or younger, and always received the blame for it.

as a result, it made us fear intimacy, and we still struggle with it to this day. shi also has p-ocd and fears being a groomer or labelled as such. but what we had there was special. we felt loved for the first time, and were safe enough to be openly sexual without being a threat.

we’re still in contact with hir to this day, while the other friend cut us off for unrelated reasons. as much as we look back fondly on our time, shi holds rather regressive views on contact, and it’s sad to think shi’ll never know how much we learned to love from a youth-adult relationship. we want to be able to give a similar experience to other youth we know. our mentor taught us the most important lesson of all: how to love and be loved