CHAPTER 7
556 Words
CHAPTER 7
What He Didn’t Say
Louis had never liked libraries.
Too quiet, too still — like a place where every heartbeat could be heard. And today, his own was too loud to ignore.
He walked out of the building slowly, the sound of rain already whispering against the roof outside. His hands were in his pockets, but his mind was miles away — still sitting across from her, still seeing that look in her eyes.
Tessa.
He ran a hand through his hair and exhaled sharply.
She’d looked calm, but he’d seen the disappointment hiding underneath. And the way she said, “You miss having someone who waits for you.”
It hit harder than he’d admit.
Adrian caught up to him halfway to the faculty office. “Bro, what’s up? You left her there like you saw a ghost.”
Louis gave a tired laugh. “Maybe I did.”
Adrian frowned. “You mean Tessa?”
He nodded. “Yeah.”
“Then fix it. You two used to light up the whole class. Now it’s like winter whenever you walk in.”
Louis gave a dry smile. “You make it sound easy.”
“Isn’t it? Talk to her, apologize — whatever it takes. She’s different, man. You know that.”
Louis stared at the rain for a while before replying. “That’s exactly the problem. She is different. Too different.”
Adrian sighed. “Translation — you’re scared.”
Louis didn’t answer. Because it was true.
He’d been in flings before — careless, simple, nothing that required him to feel too deeply. But Tessa… she demanded honesty without saying a word.
Her presence alone asked him to be real. And he didn’t know how to be that kind of man yet.
He reached the engineering block, the sound of rain louder now. His reflection in the window stared back — eyes tired, expression unreadable.
He thought about the way she said “I never hated you.”
She meant I still care.
And that scared him more than anything.
Because if she still cared, it meant he could still break her.
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Later that night, he sat on his bed, the light from his phone screen casting faint shadows on the wall. He opened her chat. Typed. Deleted. Typed again.
> Louis: “Are you awake?”
He stared at it, thumb hovering over send.
Then he deleted it.
What was he supposed to say? I’m sorry I’m terrible at loving you right? I’m sorry I don’t know how to keep someone good?
He locked his phone and threw it aside, lying back on the bed. The rain outside had turned heavier, and he could almost hear her voice in it — soft, patient, forgiving.
He hated that about her — the way she forgave too easily.
The way she still looked at him like he was more than his mistakes.
Louis closed his eyes and whispered into the darkness, “I miss you too, Tess. I just don’t know how to deserve you.”
And for the first time in a long while, he felt something tighten in his chest — not guilt, not regret, but fear.
The kind that comes when you realize the one person you could truly love might be the one you end up losing.
- Writer
