PART 9 — The Truth That Hurts
829 Words
I stopped.
Right before crossing the line.
Right before everything changed.
The distance between us…
Was almost gone.
And yet…
It felt like the longest distance we’ve ever had.
Her eyes were still on mine.
Not moving.
Not running.
But something inside them…
Changed.
“Why now?” she asked softly.
That question…
Hit harder than anything.
Not anger.
Not rejection.
But pain.
“Why… after everything?” she continued.
Her voice trembled.
Not loud.
But enough to break something inside me.
I didn’t answer immediately.
Because I knew…
There was no good answer.
“I never stopped,” I said finally.
Silence.
Her expression froze.
“…What?” she whispered.
“I never stopped caring,” I repeated.
That truth…
Felt heavier than anything I’ve ever said.
Because it was real.
Too real.
“You don’t get to say that,” she said suddenly.
Her voice changed.
No longer soft.
Now it was sharp.
“After you let me go?” she continued.
I frowned.
“That’s not what happened.”
She laughed.
But there was no happiness in it.
“Really?” she said.
“Then what happened?”
Silence.
Because this time…
I didn’t have control.
“You disappeared,” she said.
“You stopped fighting.”
Her eyes were burning now.
“And I was the only one left holding everything.”
That hit.
Hard.
“I was trying to survive,” I said.
“So was I!” she snapped.
The room went silent again.
But this silence…
Was different.
It was loud.
Painful.
Honest.
“You think I wanted to leave?” she continued.
“You think it was easy for me?”
Her voice broke slightly.
“I waited.”
That word…
Cut deeper than anything else.
“I waited for you to come back.”
My chest tightened.
“But you didn’t,” she said.
Silence.
“I thought you didn’t care anymore.”
I stepped closer.
“I did.”
“Then why didn’t you come?” she asked.
And there it was.
The question I couldn’t escape.
The one that haunted me.
Because the answer…
Was something I never told anyone.
“I had nothing,” I said quietly.
She frowned.
“I couldn’t even take care of myself back then,” I continued.
“How was I supposed to hold on to you?”
Silence.
“I thought… if I stayed away…”
I paused.
“You’d have a better life.”
Her eyes widened.
“…So you decided for me?” she whispered.
I didn’t answer.
Because she was right.
Again.
“I didn’t need a better life,” she said.
“I needed you.”
That sentence…
Broke everything.
Because all this time…
We were both hurting.
For the same reason.
But in different ways.
“I hated you,” she said suddenly.
I froze.
“But I couldn’t forget you.”
Her eyes were filled with tears now.
“And now you’re standing here…”
“…acting like nothing happened.”
“I’m not—”
“Yes, you are,” she cut me off.
Silence.
“You don’t know how hard it was to come back here,” she continued.
“To see you again…”
“To work with you like this…”
Her voice got softer.
“Like we’re strangers.”
That word…
Strangers.
It felt wrong.
Because we were never strangers.
Not even now.
I stepped closer again.
This time…
She didn’t step back.
“I don’t want us to be strangers,” I said.
Her lips trembled slightly.
“Then what do you want?” she asked.
I looked straight into her eyes.
“You.”
Silence.
Everything stopped.
For a second…
Even time felt like it froze.
Because that word…
Was too direct.
Too real.
“You can’t just say that,” she whispered.
“Why not?”
“Because it’s not that simple.”
Nothing about us was simple.
Never was.
“I’m still angry,” she said.
“I know.”
“I’m still hurt.”
“I know.”
“And I don’t know if I can trust you again.”
That one…
I couldn’t answer.
Because trust…
Isn’t something you can force.
“I’m not asking you to trust me immediately,” I said.
“Then what are you asking?”
I looked at her.
“Stay.”
Again.
That word.
But this time…
It meant something deeper.
Not just physically.
But emotionally.
“Stay… and let me fix this,” I continued.
Silence.
Her eyes searched mine.
Looking for something.
Maybe truth.
Maybe sincerity.
Maybe hope.
“I don’t know if you can,” she said.
“I’ll try.”
Another silence.
Long.
Heavy.
Then finally…
She spoke.
“…I hate you for making me feel like this again.”
But her voice…
Was soft.
And her eyes…
Didn’t look away.
Because no matter how much she hates me… she still hasn’t let go.
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