Chasing The Echo

Chapter Fourteen: Back When We Were Golden

There was a time when Luca's name didn't make Amy flinch. When hearing, his voice felt like home, and not a warning.

It comes back to her sometimes — not in full memories, but in flashes. Like old film tells flickering behind her eyelids when she's too tired to fight 'em off. Luca's hands were covered in paint, smearing color on her cheek while they tried to redecorate the apartment. The way he'd laugh, low and unguarded, before pulling her close. The late-night drives with no destination. The playlists they made together — songs that still sting when they shuffle in by accident. They'd had something real, or at least it felt that way. Not gentle, not easy — but real. Passion that burned bright enough to make everything else disappear.

Luca used to say, "You make the world quiet, Amy."

And she believed him.

He'd hold her like she was the last good thing left in the world. Always watching her—but back then, it felt like devotion, not control. He'd memorize her routines, her favorite coffee order, how she'd hum under her breath when she was thinking. Amy thought it was love.

She didn't notice when love turned into possession.

It started with small things — him getting jealous when she worked late, asking who she was texting, saying he just wanted to "protect" her. Then came the apologies, the gifts, the late-night calls that always ended with "You know I can't lose you."

And she had stayed.

Because it's hard to leave someone who knows you that deeply — even when it starts to hurt.

The memory faded, leaving her in the present again, lying in her bed in the dark. Her eyes burned, and she pulled the blanket tighter around herself, trying to hold onto the warmth of that old love before it turned into fear. She wanted to remember the good without letting it trap her. But that was the cruel part — the echo of him was both comfort and curse.

And somewhere out there, she knew he was still chasing too.