The Distance Between Us
425 Words
After that conversation, things didn’t explode.
They just… faded.
Which somehow hurt more.
Ethan didn’t disappear. He still texted. Still checked in. Still asked if I’d eaten, if I was okay, if I needed anything.
But something was missing.
The warmth.
The ease.
The feeling that we were on the same side.
Now everything felt careful again.
Measured.
Like we were both afraid of saying the wrong thing and breaking what little we had left.
We went to fewer events together, just like the board suggested. At first, it was subtle. He attended one alone. Then another. Then I started staying back more often.
Publicly, it looked normal.
Privately, it felt like being slowly erased.
One evening, I watched him get ready for an event without me.
Suit. Watch. Confidence back in place.
The same Ethan the world knew.
“You don’t have to go alone,” I said.
He paused. “They specifically asked that I do.”
“Right,” I replied softly. “Of course they did.”
He walked over and stood in front of me. “This isn’t permanent.”
“That’s what you said about the contract too.”
He frowned. “Ava…”
I sighed. “Do you know what hurts the most? It’s not that they want me out. It’s that you’re letting it happen.”
“I’m trying to handle this the best way I can.”
“For who?” I asked. “You? Or them?”
He didn’t answer immediately.
Again.
I looked away before he could see my eyes get watery. “You should go. They’re probably waiting.”
He hesitated. “I don’t want to leave like this.”
“Then don’t,” I said.
He stayed silent.
And that was my answer.
When the door closed behind him, the apartment felt too big.
Too quiet.
Too empty for a place I didn’t even technically own.
I sat on the couch and stared at my phone, waiting for a message I knew wouldn’t fix anything.
I wasn’t angry.
I was just tired.
Tired of being hidden.
Tired of being temporary.
Tired of feeling like I had to compete with a world I could never belong to.
Later that night, he texted.
Ethan: I’m home. Are you awake?
I stared at the message for a long time.
Then typed:
Ava: Yeah.
Three letters.
That was all I had left in me.
Because for the first time since this started, I wasn’t scared of losing him.
I was scared of losing myself by staying.
- Writer
