Almost You

The Day My Life Turned Upside Down

Three months ago

I didn’t cry during the wedding.

I didn’t scream.

I didn’t run away.

I just… stood there.

Wrapped in a wedding gown I never chose, hands trembling beneath perfectly applied mehendi, I walked down the aisle like a stranger in my own story.

Because this wasn’t supposed to be my wedding.

I was supposed to marry the boy I loved — the one who once held my hand beneath the stars, whispered dreams into my ears, and made promises with soft smiles and slower kisses.

But love?

Love doesn’t stand a chance against pressure.

> “You’re being childish,” my mother said coldly. “Silas is a good man. He comes from a respectable family. You’ll learn to love him.”

Learn to love?

No one tells you how hard it is to learn to love someone when your heart still belongs to another.

That night, I locked myself in my room and cried until it hurt to breathe.

And when I looked into the mirror, I didn’t see myself anymore. Just a girl whose story was being rewritten without her consent.

---

The wedding was perfect.

For everyone else.

Silas stood there, composed and calm — a man I barely knew but always treated me with nothing but kindness.

Too much kindness.

I hated him for that. For being gentle when I was falling apart. For not backing away when he knew I loved someone else.

But the cruelest part?

Even after knowing everything… he still chose me.

Not to win.

Not out of pride.

But because… he truly loved me.

And that? That broke me more than anything.

---

Now — three months later

We live under the same roof.

We eat at the same table.

We sleep in separate rooms.

And yet, Silas never complains.

He leaves coffee at my door every morning, just the way I like it.

He waits for me to eat before he does.

He buys me books he knows I love… but never asks if I’ve read them.

He doesn’t force conversation.

But he always listens.

> “Luna,” he said this morning, standing quietly at the door as I stared at the rain, “your umbrella’s broken. I’ll get you a new one.”

I nodded, not meeting his eyes.

And when he left… I felt it again.

Guilt.

Not because I’m cold to him.

But because he never deserved any of this.

---

He’s trying.

He’s trying so hard to mend what was never his to break.

And somehow, even through all my silence and distance...

He’s still hoping.