Tension Released

More thanEnough

She walked away. Didn't cry. Didn't say a word.Just turned and left like the whole damn world hadn't shifted two inch To the left when he finally told her the truth. I can live without Willow, but I can't live without you Sam. He said it, because it's real. Because it had it been sitting on his chest for weeks, like a second heartbeat, waiting to break through. Now it had. And she was gone. Jordan stood in the middle of the robot cell, the half repaired picking arm still limp at his side, and let the silence settle. His hands were greasy, but his heart was raw.

Sam.

She didn't know what she did to him. The way her smile punched holes in his ribs. The way her laugh could cut through the chaos of the machines and alarms like sunlight breaking through storm clouds. The way she pretended to be ok when he could see right through it. He saw her. The pain in her eyes when she thought no one was watching. The way she flinches at sudden loud noises. The anxiety in the way she clutched her coffee cup like it was her only defense. And he didn't mind any of it. Not the trauma, the past, the walls she built so carefully he saw it all. He'd seen harder things. Hell he lived through harder things. His wife left him and their daughter like they were baggage. She didn't fall in love with someone else, she walked away from the family they had built. Tossed them like an old T-shirt she was tired of wearing. Jordan hadn't even cried when she left. Not really. Not in front of Americus anyways.He just got up the next morning, packed lunch, tied his daughter shoes, drove her to school and went to work. Because that's what you do when people leave. But Sam.... Sam was different. He hasn't even wanted to look at another woman. Not until she walked through those doors, her lips pulled tight with nerves and fake confidence. Trying so hard not to crumble. She derailed him. And now he was all in. Even if she wasn't. Even if she never said it back. He leaned back against the cold metal panel and closed his eyes. He'd told the guys to leave her alone from the beginning. Warned them off, not like a jealous kid, but like someone who knew what kind of woman she was and what kind damage they could do. She wasn't someone to have. She was someone to hold up. When she was too tired to keep holding herself together. He was to shy to tell her all of this. So he watched. Projected from a distance. Sent quiet messages through other guys, small things, harmless things. Trying to understand her without scaring her off. She never seemed to notice or if she did, she never let on. She probably didn't know that he thought about her when he made dinner. That her laugh followed him home. That sometime when his daughter was in bed and the whole house was dark and quiet, he stared at the ceiling and wondered what Sam was doing, if she had eaten, if she was okay and if she ever thought about him like he thinks of her. And now she was gone. Not gone-gone. But retreating. Hurt. Conflicted. Terrified. He couldn't blame her. The woman was going through hell. A divorce, kid, new house, new job, car payment and trauma galore and no one saw it. But he saw it. And he didn't want her spite of all that. He wanted her because of it. Because anyone who can love someone who's easy. Someone who smiles wide and walks light. But Jordan had never wanted easy. He wanted her.