Aries

When someone keeps pushing against the same line you have drawn, they are not confused about where it is. They are testing whether you mean it, and more specifically, whether you mean it with them. The pain comes from realizing that the person doing the pushing is someone you thought understood the terms without needing them spelled out. But there is something clarifying about discovering that your no means no even when it disappoints someone you care about. The ache is not the boundary failing. The ache is the boundary working exactly as it should, even when that means disappointing someone who thought they were the exception.