Learning How to Stay
536 Words
Then she left Apartment 13B.
This time, the hallway felt colder than the first night they met.
For three days, they barely spoke.
Kim buried herself in writing while Dave worked late every night.
Both miserable.
Both stubborn.
Then on the fourth evening, Kim received a call from the building manager.
"Dave collapsed at work," the woman said urgently. "They said it was exhaustion."
Kim's stomach turned instantly.
Without thinking, she rushed to the hospital.
When she entered the room, Dave looked pale but awake.
The second he saw her, relief crossed his face.
"You came."
Kim folded her arms tightly.
"Of course I came."
Dave stared at her for a long moment.
"I'm tired of being afraid all the time," he admitted softly.
Her expression weakened slightly.
"I keep thinking if I love someone this much again... I'll lose them too."
Kim walked closer slowly.
"You can't protect yourself from pain by refusing to live."
Dave eyes filled quietly.
Then, for the first time since Christine's death, he allowed himself to cry in front of someone.
And Kim stayed beside him through all of it.
After Dave left the hospital, things between him and Kim changed again but this time in a healthier way.
There were no dramatic promises.
No speeches about forever.
Just honesty.
Dave started attending therapy for the grief he had buried for years, and for the first time, he stopped treating healing like betrayal.
Kim noticed the difference slowly.
He communicated more.
He stopped shutting down whenever emotions became difficult.
Some nights they still argued, but now he stayed instead of emotionally disappearing.
One evening, Kim sat nervously in her apartment refreshing her email for the hundredth time.
Three months earlier, she had submitted her novel manuscript to several publishers and small literary agencies. Most never replied.
A few rejected her politely.
Dave walked in carrying takeout boxes and immediately noticed her expression.
"Still nothing?"
Kim forced a smile.
"I'm starting to think my book belongs in the trash."
Dave placed the boxes down and sat beside her.
"You know what I think?" he asked.
"What?"
"I think you're terrified this might actually work."
She laughed softly.
"That's ridiculous."
"No," he said gently. "You spent so long surviving disappointment that success feels suspicious now."
Before Kim could respond, her laptop suddenly made a notification sound.
Both of them froze.
Her hands trembled slightly as she opened the email.
The subject line read:
Publishing Offer — Gray & Rowe Literary.
Kim stared at the screen in complete shock.
"They want a meeting," she whispered.
Dave blinked.
"What?"
"They want to publish the book."
The words barely felt real.
For months she had doubted herself, convinced her dreams were unrealistic. Now suddenly, someone believed in her work enough to give her a chance.
Tears filled her eyes before she could stop them.
Dave immediately pulled her into his arms.
"I told you," he murmured against her hair. "You were never meant to spend your life editing everyone else's stories."
That night they celebrated with wine, pizza, and too much laughter.
And sometime after midnight, Kim realized something important:
For the first time in years, her future excited her more than it scared her.
- Writer
