Brianna’s POV
The door closes behind him, soft, final, and I am left staring at the silence he leaves behind.
I don’t move at first. I can’t. My body still aches with the memory of his hands, my skin still burns from where he touched me, and yet the hollow in my chest is louder than anything else.
I replay it again and again, the way I whispered the words, the way my heart finally tore free from the cage I had kept it in, and the way his face hardened like stone. I wrap the blanket around myself, clutching it like armour, though it does nothing to keep out the chill he left behind.
I said it. I love you. And he walked away.
I press my palm to my lips, as though I can shove the words back in, erase them, bury them under silence. But they are still there, echoing in the air, mocking m
