Chapter Six: Back To Now
745 Words
Amy blinks, and the memories dissolve like smoke replaced by the low hum of the bar, the flicker of neon, the weight of Luca’s stare still locked on her.
He’s been talking, but she only catch the end of it. Something about how he’s “not the same anymore.” She almost laughed, but her chest’s too tight for it to come out.
Funny how people change right when you stop waiting for them to.
“Did you even hear what I said?” he asks, leaning forward. His voice is steady, but his eyes… they give him away. There’s that same fire, the one that burned everything before.
She nod slowly. “I heard you. You said you’re different now.”
He studies her like he’s trying to read the truth in her face. “I am.”
She swirl the drink in her glass, watching the ice melt. “That’s the thing about you, Luca. You always say the right words. You just never keep them long enough to matter.”
He flinches just barely, but enough for her to see it.
“I came here because I wanted to make things right,” he says. “I didn’t want it to end like that.”
She meet his gaze. “You didn’t want it to end at all. There’s a difference.”
He’s quiet then, jaw tight, fingers tapping against the table that old, restless rhythm he used to have when he was trying not to lose his temper.
She catch herself noticing it.
And hating that she still notice anything about him.
The silence stretches, heavy and unfinished. Then he says, quietly:
“You really done with me?”
She takes a breath slow, deep, careful. “I was done the first time you made me feel small.”
And this time, he doesn’t argue.
He just nods, eyes glassy but proud enough to pretend it’s fine.
When she stands to leave, he doesn’t stop her.
He just watches, like he’s memorizing the moment he finally loses the one thing he thought he could always get back.
Amy
She told herself that was it.
That leaving that bar meant leaving him the memories, the mess, the version of herself that kept choosing him even when she knew better.
For a few days, it worked.
She went to work.
Laughed with friends.
Started feeling like herself again lighter, freer.
But closure never shows up when she ask for it.
It was a Wednesday night the kind of night that feels too quiet, too familiar. She was walking home, scrolling through her phone, when she heard it.
“Amy.”
That voice. Low, steady, unforgettable.
She turned around, and there he was.. Luca, standing under the streetlight like he’d stepped right out of a memory. Hoodie, jeans, that same look that always managed to undo her.
She crossed her arms. “You following me now?”
He shook his head. “Nah. I was just—” He hesitated, exhaling hard. “I didn’t plan this. I swear.”
She didn’t believe him, but something in his tone made her pause.
He stepped closer, keeping his distance like he knew one wrong move would send her walking. “I’ve been trying to stay away,” he said. “But I saw you, and I—”
“You what?” she cut in. “Decided to haunt me again?”
He almost smiled. Almost. “Something like that.”
She rolled her eyes, turning to leave. But then he said, “Wait.”
She froze.
“I know you don’t owe me anything,” he said, voice softer now. “I just needed to see you once without all the yelling. No fighting. No trying to fix what’s broken. Just… see you.”
The sincerity in his eyes made her chest ache because this wasn’t the Luca who argued or blamed or tried to control. This was the one who used to make her feel safe, the one she thought she lost.
She sighed. “And now that you’ve seen me?”
He shrugged, looking down. “Guess I can finally stop wondering.”
She didn’t know what to say. So she didn’t say anything.
She just watched him turn and walk away — no begging, no guilt trip, no drama.
Just a man who finally learned what letting go looked like.
And somehow, that hurt more than all the chaos before it.
- Writer
