Things We Don't Say (But Feel Anyway)
241 Words
*Chapter Nine – Things We Don’t Say (But Feel Anyway)*
Eliana found herself writing again.
Not poetry this time, or lyrics just... thoughts. Pages of them. Scribbled in her journal at midnight or typed half-asleep into her phone. And Kai? Kai was still playing his guitar, but now he played softer. Like he wasn’t trying to be heard by the world just by one person.
They were figuring it out. Slowly.
There were still moments when Eliana would pull away. When the weight of being understood scared her more than being invisible. When Kai would say something that touched too deep, and she'd make a joke to cover the crack in her voice.
And Kai... Kai was still learning how to be patient. How to hold space for someone without trying to fix them. How to let silence sit in a room without rushing to fill it.
One Friday evening, she showed up at his door without warning.
No hoodie to hide in. No headphones to escape behind.
Just Eliana.
Raw. Quiet.
“I didn’t come here for anything,” she said.
“I know,” Kai replied. “Still glad you did.”
They didn’t need to say much after that.
She lay on the floor, staring at the ceiling.
He sat beside her, guitar resting nearby, untouched.
After a while, he spoke.
“Did you mean it? What you said by the lake?”
She didn’t answer right away.
- Writer
