NOT OVER
403 Words
Not Over
Dinner with Mia was supposed to be a distraction.It wasn’t.
Ava picked at her food,staring through her sister’s words.
Mia leaned in.“You saw him again,didn’t you?”
Ava nodded.
“And?”
“He told me everything.”
Mia blinked.“Everything-everything?”
Ava sighed.“His dad.His fake breakup.The threats.The undercover work.All of it.”
Mia leaned back,crossed her arms.“So...what?You believe him now?”
“I don’t know.I want to.But part of me feels stupid.”
“Wanting answers isn’t stupid.”
Ava pushed her plate aside.“It doesn’t change what he did.”
“No.It just explains it.”
Ava looked up.“And what if explaining it makes me fall again?”
Mia didn’t answer.Because they both knew it already had.
Later that night,Ava sat by the window in her hotel room,watching the city.She hated how easily Ethan still slipped into her bloodstream like he never left.
But he had.
And he’d taken everything with him.
The worst part?She never stopped loving him.Not really.
A knock at the door.
She froze.
Then opened it.
Ethan.
No words.Just him.
“Please,”he said.
She let him in.
He didn’t sit.Didn’t touch her.Just stood like a man begging without saying the words.
“I’m not asking for a second chance,”he said finally.“I’m asking for one honest moment between us.No lies.No history.No pain.Just truth.”
Ava crossed her arms.“Alright.Talk.”
He stepped closer,eyes locked to hers.
“I never stopped loving you.Not once.Not for a second.I tried.I tried to forget you.To erase you.But it didn’t work.You were always there,even when you hated me.”
Her voice was shaky.“Why tell me now?”
“Because I’m tired of pretending.I’ve lost too much already.I don’t want to lose you again.”
She swallowed hard.
“Ethan...I’m scared.”
“Me too.”
He reached out.
She didn’t stop him.
His hand found hers,warm,strong,familiar.
“You hurt me,”she whispered.
“I know.”
“And I don’t know if I can trust you.”
“I’ll wait.I’ll prove it.I’ll show you I’m still the man who would do anything to keep you safe—even if it meant losing you.”
Tears burned her eyes.
Ava didn’t speak.
She just stepped forward and rested her head against his chest.
For the first time in years,it felt like home.
- Writer
