By Emily Chance
She was broken. Smashed to pieces. For he was the only one she truly fell for. The only guy who broke up with her. This was the first time she had been on the receiving end of rejection, and it got caught in her throat. A sob. It was unexpected. He made her feel safe and loved. They never fought. They always understood when the other one did something stupid or wrong. Everything. They talked things out and made each other laugh.
“It’s the distance,” he said apathetic.
“We knew it’d be hard,” she choked out.
“Our situation stresses me out.”
“…We knew it’d be hard. You said it’d be okay.”
Nearly six months. Six months of laughter and happiness and hope snuffed out like a candle. A sudden, strong wind blowing away her shattered pieces.
“I still love you,” he said. “But it’s just hard.”
But she couldn’t understand. Because she knew she loved him. If he loved her, why wasn’t it enough? Was it her? But they didn’t even have a fight… So why?
“It’s not your fault.”
No matter how many times he told her it wasn’t her fault, she would know it wasn’t, but she would always feel like it was. Because if you loved someone, you made it work. Whether you saw them once a week or once every couple of months, if you loved someone that much, you would stay. Because love wasn’t something you could pause. Once you fell, you couldn’t suddenly stop. You couldn’t just accept it and move on. But she didn’t know how to explain the brokenness she felt without making him feel guilty, so she held it inside and once again, one last time, and whispered, “I understand.”
Edited by Elena Van Horn