CRYSTAL POV
"I told you, I needed time."
"And I would've given it to you," he said immediately. "If you had just said that instead of vanishing like that. Making me f*****g worrried. You treated me like I was nothing."
That made my head snap back toward him.
"I didn't say you were nothing."
"You didn't have to," he replied.
Silence fell again.
"I wasn't trying to shut you out," I said finally, my voice softer now, and less defensive. "I just… didn't know how to talk about it."
He watched me closely.
"Then try," he said.
I hesitated.. Because trying meant opening up.
And opening up meant admitting just how much Ryan leaving had affected me.
Which was something I wasn't proud of.
"I hate that it got to me like this," I admitted slowly, my voice barely
