FOURTEEN
759 Words
Somewhere around four in the morning, exhaustion finally wins.
Kasin's eyes drift closed, her thoughts still spinning but her body too drained to fight sleep anymore.
On the couch, Jayden leans back, one arm thrown over his eyes. He doesn't think he'll sleep. But eventually, his breathing evens out. His body gives in even if his mind won't let go.
---
Morning light filters through the blinds.
Kasin wakes slowly, disoriented for a moment before everything comes rushing back.
Jayden. The club. The lies. The truth.
She sits up, running her hands through her hair. Her body aches like she's been in a fight. Maybe she has been—just not the physical kind.
She gets up, moves to the bathroom. Splashes cold water on her face. Looks at herself in the mirror.
She looks tired. Worn. But there's something else there too.
Something steady.
She knows what she needs to do.
She gets dressed in yesterday's clothes, finger-combs her hair. Takes one last look around his room—at the vest, the pictures, the evidence of a life she didn't know existed.
Then she opens the door.
Jayden is already awake.
He's sitting on the edge of the couch, elbows on his knees, head in his hands. When he hears the door, he looks up immediately. His eyes are bloodshot, his hair a mess. He looks like he hasn't slept at all.
Maybe he hasn't.
He stands. "Kasin—"
"I need time." Her voice is quiet but firm. "And space."
His jaw tightens. She can see him fighting the urge to argue, to push, to try to fix this.
"How long?" His voice is rough.
"I don't know."
He flinches like she hit him.
"This isn't..." She takes a breath. "This isn't me ending things. I just—I need to figure out who I am. On my own. Without..." She gestures between them. "Without this being the thing that defines me."
"I get it." He doesn't sound like he gets it. He sounds like he's barely holding it together.
"Do you?"
"No." He runs a hand through his hair. "But I'm not gonna stop you. If this is what you need, then..." He trails off. Looks away. "Then you should do it."
The silence stretches between them.
"I should go," she says finally.
"Let me drive you."
"No." She shakes her head. "I need to do this myself."
He nods. Doesn't argue. But she can see how much it costs him.
She moves toward the door. He follows, keeping distance but unable to stay away completely.
At the door, she pauses. Turns back.
He's standing there, hands shoved in his pockets, looking at her like he's memorizing her face. Like he's afraid this is the last time.
"Jayden—"
"Don't." His voice cracks. "Just... don't, okay? If you're going, just go. Because if you say anything else, I'm gonna f*****g beg you to stay, and we both know that's not what you need right now."
Her throat tightens. Her eyes burn.
But she doesn't cry.
She just nods.
And then she leaves.
---
The Uber is quiet.
Kasin sits in the back seat, watching the city pass by through the window. She doesn't look back at his building. Doesn't let herself.
Her chest aches. Her hands are shaking in her lap.
But underneath the hurt, there's something else.
Something that feels like relief. Like rightness.
Like she's finally choosing herself.
It hurts. God, it hurts.
But it's necessary.
And she knows—deep down, in the part of her that's been waking up over the past few months—that this is what she needs to do.
For her.
Not for him. Not for them.
For *her*.
---
Jayden stands at the window, watching the Uber pull away.
He doesn't move until it's out of sight.
Then he turns back to his house.
It's never felt this empty before.
The silence is suffocating. The space where she was—where she stood, where she slept, where she *existed* just minutes ago—feels like a void now.
He sinks back down onto the couch.
Drops his head into his hands.
And for the first time in years—maybe ever—Jayden doesn't know what to do.
He can't fix this. Can't control it. Can't make her come back.
All he can do is wait.
And hope that when she figures out who she is, there's still room for him in that picture.
But right now?
Right now, he's alone.
And it's killing him.
******End
- Writer
