I cried in front of someone recently.

Properly. Not held back, or the dignified kind. The kind where you can't quite catch your breath.

And the first thing I said afterwards, through it, was "sorry, I don't know where that came from."

They didn't say it was okay.

They just stayed, without flinching, and without trying to make it stop.

And afterwards I felt something I wasn't expecting.

Like something had been put down that I'd been holding for a long time without realising.