CHAPTER THIRTEEN
1075 Words
I shouldn’t have come.
That was the only clear thought in my head as I stood in front of her door.
This was a mistake, a bad one.
The kind I don’t make.
And yet, I was still there.
My hand lifted.
Paused.
Dropped.
Leave.
Walk away.
Fix it like you always do.
Instead, I knocked.
The sound echoed louder than I expected it.
Or maybe that was just my pulse.
Footsteps.
On the other side.
And then, the door opened.
Lena.
For a second, neither one of us spoke.
She looked surprised.
Of course she did.
I wasn’t supposed to be here.
“What are you doing here?” she asked.
No warmth, no softness.
Just distance.
Good.
That made this easier.
“I need to talk to you.”
Her expression didn’t change.
“We already talked.”
“No,” I said. “We didn’t.”
She stepped back.
Just enough to let me in.
Mistake.
For both of us.
The door closed behind me.
And suddenly everything felt too close.
Too real.
I'm just now processing what's happening and what i'm doing.
“You have two minutes,” she said.
Crossing her arms slightly.
Guarded.
Defensive.
Fair.
“That message,” I started.
Her jaw tightened instantly.
“Don’t,” she cut in.
“It wasn’t—”
“Don’t,” she repeated.
Sharper this time.
Silence.
I exhaled slowly.
Adjusting.
“I handled it wrong.”
A small, humorless laugh left her.
“That’s an understatement.”
“I should have told you myself.”
“Yes,” she said immediately. “You should have.”
Her eyes locked onto mine.
“But you didn’t.”
There was no accusation in her voice.
Which made it worse.
Just fact.
“I don’t do things halfway,” I said.
Wrong thing.
“Right,” she replied. “You just end them completely.”
“That’s how I keep control,” I added.
“And how’s that working for you?” she shot back.
No answer.
Because we both knew.
“It’s not about control,” she continued. “Not anymore.”
I watched her.
Carefully.
“You felt it too.”
Not a question.
A statement.
“That’s exactly why I ended it.”
Her eyes darkened.
“Wow.”
One word.
Full of disbelief.
“So instead of dealing with it,” she added, “you just ran.”
“I didn’t run.”
“You showed up at my door after ending things with a message,” she said. “That doesn’t exactly scream control, Adrian.”
Silence.
She stepped closer now.
“You don’t get to walk back in here like nothing happened.”
“I’m not pretending nothing happened.”
"Then what are you doing?” she demanded.
That was the question, the real one at least.
I didn’t answer immediately.
I didn’t have a controlled, calculated response.
“I couldn’t stay away.”
The words came out before I could stop them.
Silence.
Heavy.
Her expression changed.
Just slightly.
“Don’t,” she said quietly.
Too late.
“You think I didn’t try?” I continued. “Three days. No contact. No calls. No—”
"Then why are you here?” she cut in.
Because I lost control.
Because you got under my skin.
Because this isn’t supposed to happen.
Instead, I said:
“Because you didn’t answer my question.”
Her brows pulled together.
“What question?”
I stepped closer.
Closing the space between us.
“This doesn’t work,” I said. “That’s what you said."
“Yes.”
“Then why does it feel like it should?”
Silence.
That one hit.
I saw it.
Felt it.
Her breath caught slightly.
“That’s not a reason to ruin everything,” she said.
“It already is ruined.”
Another step closer.
“Because I can’t pretend anymore.”
Her heart was beating faster.
I could see it.
Feel it.
“That’s the problem,” she whispered.
“No,” I said quietly.
“It’s the truth.”
Silence stretched between us.
And then,
“You hurt me.”
The words were soft.
But they hit harder than anything else she said.
My chest tightened.
“I know.”
“Do you?” she asked.
Her eyes held mine.
No walls now.
No pretending.
“Because it didn’t feel like you did.”
I reached for her,
then stopped.
Not allowed.
Not anymore.
“I didn’t plan for this,” I said.
“That doesn’t make it okay.”
“I know.”
Silence again.
Then,
“Say it,” she said.
My gaze sharpened.
“Say what?”
“The truth,” she replied.
Dangerous.
“You already know it.”
“I want to hear you say it.”
A trap.
And I walked right into it.
“I don’t want this to be over.”
There it was.
Out in the open.
No control.
No rules.
No distance.
Just truth.
Silence filled the room.
And for a second, it felt like everything might change.
But then,
“That’s not enough.”
The words hit like a wall.
My expression hardened.
“What?”
“You don’t want it to be over,” she said. “But you still don’t know how to stay.”
That,
was different.
That wasn’t emotion.
That was clarity.
“You’ll do it again,” she added. “The moment it gets hard.”
“No.”
“Yes,” she said firmly. “You will.”
Silence.
Because a part of me knew she was right.
“I’m not doing this halfway,” she continued. “Not with you.”
A line.
Drawn.
Clear.
“So what are you saying?” I asked.
She held my gaze.
“I’m saying you don’t get to come back just because you miss me.”
Silence.
“And until you figure out what you actually want—”
A small pause.
“Stay away.”
That one,
that one hit.
Hard.
I stood there.
For a second.
Two.
Then I nodded once.
“Fine.”
The word felt wrong.
But it was the only one I had.
I turned.
Walked to the door.
Paused.
But didn’t look back.
Because if I did,
I wouldn’t leave.
And this time,
she wouldn’t stop me.
The door closed behind me.
And for the first time,
I didn’t feel in control.
- Writer
- chap_listContents
- likeADD