ing the canvas Elena hadn't yet finished. The restoratio

ck, the words that lingered between them. "What if it changes everything?" he had said. But

to fall back into h

o

mother stood before her, its colors diluted by time

ar. When painting wasn't just their refuge, but their language, their way of understanding each other. In th

years

ush in hand, looking at the canvas she had begun in her stud

g her with the intensity that had always di

uldn't let go. When he spoke like that, with such certainty, with that gaze that seemed to see beyond

walked away," he said, break

that everything they had built together wasn't enough to stop the chaos that was forming. But she didn't. "Because I couldn't keep wat

The sadness was pa

nted to be

ng washed over her, and for a moment

didn't want to spill any more than it already had. But the return to

looking for something to do, anything to distract her.

nce to recover w

se to fall back

aze fixed on her, but something had changed. It wasn't the same intensity as before. The

up, measuring the distance between them, somethin

of the awkward silences that filled every corner between them. She wanted to ge

jandro?" she asked, he

again. That step that had stripped her of her will so many times. But he

aid finally, his tone softer, more tired. "

n intensity that only he h

elped me get out of a hole I was in. And because this painti

she believed his words, but something in her expression tol

leave. But I don't know if you've forgotten me or if,

eeling the air grow thick

se this is the only thing I know how to do. And because if I stay,

d her, close enough for Elena to feel his warmt

keep running away. I

wasn't lost either. That what had been between them was never truly closed. It had rem

doesn't

ion, so different, yet at the same time, so familiar. Everything she had kept

ights, the promises that were never said, eve

ring between them, like a dense

he com

while she restored it. It wasn't just a painting. It was evidence of a love that had been beautiful, but had also left dee

, this time with a change in his po

let me, if you don't leave, if you don'

d at him

if I can sta

e, we can find a wa

e again, but there was something differ