Too Much

Too Much

The sun had almost set, and the golden hour was already approaching. This is honestly the perfect time for me to go for a walk. I closed my eyes and let the wind caress my cheeks as I inhaled deeply. I was walking in the park near my apartment and it was crowded just like what I expected since it was weekend. They were mostly families, friends, and couples laughing together, giggling, and teasing each other. I roamed my eyes around and smiled, seeing how the people here are happily enjoying themselves and taking a break from stressful days. I was about to continue walking when a man accidentally bumped into me. I fell down and groaned out of pain.

"I'm really sorry miss, I didn--- Thena?" I furrowed my brows and slowly raised my head. I was kinda surprised seeing the man I bumped into. The person that I least expected to see.

"Drake.." I said almost in a whisper as our eyes met. He offered me a hand. I stared at it for a bit before finally taking it and getting on my feet.

"It's been a long time since I last saw you" he stated with a smile plastered on his face.

"It's been 2 years. I guess we were that busy with our careers". I chuckled

"Umm.. are you perhaps in a hurry?" he asked, a bit hesitant. I shook my head in response and before we knew it, we were already walking towards a vacant bench. In front of it was a big field where children were playing.

"How are you?" I asked while tying my hair in a ponytail, it became a habit.

"You still do that" he stated while chuckling

"Huh?" I creased my brows, confused about his statement

"You always tie your hair whenever we talk, you think loose strands will get in the way while you listen to what I had to say" I opened my mouth but then closes it. I saw him smiled lightly

"I'm doing fine by the way. A little bit stressed from work but other than that I'm fine. How about you?" I somehow felt relieved when he changed the topic

"It's the same for me, I actually still have tons of work to finish" I responded while staring at the children who were running and busily playing

"So I guess you're here to relieve your stress, 'cause same" He answered eyes straight ahead. We were in silence for a minute watching children playing, families laughing together and couples being all lovey-dovey. We weren't talking but Drake broke the silence with his question that left me frozen

"What happened to us Thena?" I turned my head in his direction but he was still staring straight ahead. I gulped and it was as if my mind went blank but then we can't just run away from it forever. It was a mutual break up but we never had the chance to talk about it, to know why and how did we end up walking different paths when we once promised each other a lifetime.

"I guess we loved each other too much to the point it became suffocating" I hung my head low as I answered without hesitation. Once again I heard him chuckle.

"Dang, some people broke up because they fell out of love or someone cheated but us, we fell apart because we loved each other too much" He laughed lightly but disappointment and sadness were visible in his tone

"How about you Drake, why did you gave up?" I can feel how he shifted his gaze unto me but I remained staring somewhere far

"I got tired. I'm sorry, I honestly felt suffocated as well but why did we have to end up letting each other go when we could've still fought for it" he stated. I heaved a sigh

"We were together for 6 years but what we had wasn't healthy anymore. It felt like we were in a cage, It was like some kind of barricade that was preventing us from growing. We were in love and happy but everything started to become overwhelming. We were suffocating" I responded remembering how we were when we were still together.

"We were so invested in our relationship that we started to neglect our individuality. We lost opportunities because of how we made each other our priority and started to abandon our friends and family, even putting our individual goals on hold. We started ignoring our hobbies and passion and gradually lost track of reality losing ourselves in the process. We weren't growing anymore." I continued. He smiled but I can see how there was a glimpse of sadness in his eyes.

"I'm sorry" I uttered

"For what? for loving me too much?" he joked but sadness was still visible in his eyes "Then I guess I'll have to apologize too, for loving you too much" he added and this time our gazes met

It was a painful breakup. We were still in love but we had to stop to save ourselves. Until the end we were selfless.

I feel like a thorn has been pulled out releasing what I truly felt. I guess I've been keeping this for 2 years, it felt really good letting it all out. The sun has finally set as we watch the sunset together. I checked my watch and I didn't notice it was getting late. Drake stood as he stretched his body.

"Shall we go?" he asked smiling. I looked at him one more time and stood to hug him one more time. I felt how he also tighten the hug. We both know what this means. I closed my eyes as a tear escaped from my eye

"Thank you, Drake, for everything" I sincerely said

"Thank you, Thena, for everything" He answered voice cracking

We both broke free from the hug and gave each other an encouraging smile as we both started walking away from each other. Once again we were walking on a different path but this time with a smile on our faces and happy hearts. Just like how sunset proves that endings can be beautiful too, that goes for us too.

Sometimes, people are meant to fall in love but not meant to be together.