see Ryan again. Not ever

ng people back into your orbit, especi

ere movement was easier than stillness. Her apartment had begun to feel like a prison of unspoken thoughts and sleepless nights. She hadn't eaten properly in

and Madison, head down when a

ian

t her chest l

up, and th

ya

et when she was cold. His hair was a little messier, his eyes darker th

n't say

talk?"

No

pped closer. "Jus

and sharp. "So you can give me

but she didn't c

ut I can't just let us end like this. You

made excuses for you. I stood by you even when you were half-present and emotio

She had never spoken t

nt to hurt yo

you

between them, thi

p with her," he

caught. "So what

. It wasn't innocent. But it d

hollow. "You stopped i

dn't r

and realize it doesn't belong to you anymore? That someone else has taken y

talk to you anymore. It always felt like you were two st

ed you to grow up. I needed you to be a partner. But you resented

. "That's

I kept trying to become less j

eat pa

you," he w

be. In your way. But no

k, the hum of traffic filling th

ant to be," he said, his voice

f us I hoped for," she replie

rize the shape of her face, the sound of her v

ry, Liana

ve you. But that does

t to fi

u ca

she almost felt sorry for him. But sympathy wasn't

e you. But because I loved you more than you were willing to love yo

ned to w

fter her, "I

n her coat pocket, the

has t

she kept

dn't lo

er keys on the counter and exhaled for

was

ust a quiet, necessary end. The kind t

and reopened the document she had started the day after

s is

add

I mean

closed t

again. Ryan. She b

window, watching the late afternoon fade into twilight. Below her, people hurried along the s

And anger still simmer

: stillness. And beneath that stillnes