"Awww I love you too!" I said. Maybe this was a red flag, but it didn't feel that way. Maybe he was just trying to fix the fight or make sure I didn't go away, but I said it because I meant it, and I'm pretty sure he did to.
So I didn't do what maybe I should've done, which was politely say goodbye after all the misogyny. But I am so, SO tired of the ways I let Putin control my love life! I wanted to try something new.
When I got home from the I love yous, I wrote to him and told him how hurt I was about the politics, how much grief and loss the conversation had brought up. I said I was going to give myself a few days to let things settle. He apologized and said he would be waiting patiently for my return.
The giving-myself-time thing was so cool! I always wanted to try it, to slow down and let myself process. After a couple days, my heart warmed and I knew what to say, so I said it.
This isn't the first far-left cutie to talk about my political life with contempt. I know being hated for being a Democrat is far from being the biggest injustice in the world, but I hate it. I just hate it so much. I've lost a few Millennial friends this way, the contempt is so baked in! Baked in by decades of GOP attacks on Hillary, by valid critiques of stupid centrist "tough on crime" decisions, by the won't-someone-please-think-of-the-white-men rotten heartbeat of American Himpathy.
It's so painful to be the enemy, to live in separate worlds from my younger friends, from my family, from man after man after man. I just didn't want to let this one go, so I didn't. We made it to our third date and I'm so glad we did.