The porcupine dilemma - Everytime when I see her feeling troubled or in feeling down, it really makes me want to put down whatever I'm doing and be there for her. But yet being so close to her, I may unknowingly be hurt by her remarks as her mechanism of self-defense raises up.

Should I bite the bullet and embrace the quills that pierce through me? Yes, I will. For there is something that is greater than the pain that pierces me.