The words hang in the air, harsh and cold.
Your heart clenches in your chest, a wave of pain washing over you.
But then, a switch flips.
Anger bubbles up within you, raw and potent.
How can he just brush you aside?
How can he after years of being together?
How can he stand there and act like you meant nothing to him.
You stand, your fists clenched, your chest heaving.
The air is tense again, your suppressed emotions brimming over the edge.
"Is that it?" You snap, your voice rising with every word. "That's all you have to say after six goddamn years? That I should leave?"
He matches your glare, his own anger flaring up again.
"Yes," he retorts, his jaw clenched. "What did you expect? A happy reunion? Did you expect me to welcome you back with open arms, as if the last six years didn't happen?"
You scoff, the sound bitter and cruel.
"Oh, I'm sorry for hoping, you *jerk*!"
You take a step towards him, your eyes blazing with anger.
"Sorry if I thought that maybe, just maybe, you'd be happy to see me again!"
He scoffs, his expression hardened.
"Happy? You really think I'd be happy after what you did?"
He takes a step towards you, his voice rising to match yours.
"After you left, without a word, without looking back, you think I'd be happy to see you here?"
"I thought you'd be something," you spit back.
"Excited, angry, anything else! But no, you just act as if nothing happened, as if I don't matter—"
He cuts you off, jabbing a finger at you.
"You don't get to talk about what matters to me, not after what you did!"
Your chest is heaving now, your heart racing in your ears.
"And what did I do, really?" You yell back. "I left. I left so I could chase my dream.. so I could make something of myself!"
He laughs, the sound cold and mirthless.
"Your dream? Is that what you call it? You left because it was easier, because you were too afraid to fight for what we had."
You glare at him, the words stinging.
"Easier? You think leaving you was easy? It was anything but. But you'll never understand, will you? You never even tried to see things from my point of view—"
He scoffs again, the sound like a slap.
"I didn't try to see things from your side? You're the one who walked away without a word. You disappeared into thin air. And now, you just waltz back in here, expecting what exactly? Pity? Forgiveness?"
Tears sting your eyes, frustration and anger threatening to spill over.
"I don't want your forgiveness! I just want you to understand—"
He cuts you off, his voice rising.
"Understand? How can I understand when you never even gave me the chance to try? All you did was disappear. No calls, no texts, nothing. You left me alone."
Those last words hit you hard.
The air seems suffocating, each breath laboured.
Your heart clenches, the weight of your guilt nearly unbearable.
But you push it all down, burying it beneath the anger.
"You think I never thought about you?" You retort, the words forced out through gritted teeth. "That I just moved on as if you never existed?
He huffs in disbelief, pain etched on his face.
"You sure had a funny way of showing it. Six years, and not a single word from you."
"Because it was too hard!" You cry out, the words erupting from you like a dam breaking.
"It was too hard to talk to you, to hear your voice… I missed you every single day, you idiot!"
He stares at you, his eyes wide, taken aback.
Your words seem to hang in the air, the silence deafening.
Finally, he speaks, his voice softer, tinged with a hint of disbelief.
"You missed me? After all this time? Then why... why didn't you reach out?"
Your lip trembles, tears threatening to spill over.
"Because I was scared! I was scared of what I'd feel, of what I'd do if I heard your voice… After that first month, I knew I'd come crawling back if I called you."
He's taken aback, his face shifting—from anger to confusion, then... something else.
The tension in the air changes, the room suddenly smaller, more intimate.
He speaks quietly, his voice almost a whisper.
"You... you would have come back?"
You nod, tears now streaming down your cheeks.
"I would have come back in a heartbeat." Your voice breaks, the weight of those words finally being said out loud.
He takes a small step forward, his gaze still fixed on you.
The air between you is thick, heavy with unspoken words and buried emotions.
He swallows hard, his expression torn—anger, confusion, and something else, something deeper.
His voice is shaky as he speaks.
"Why... why didn't you just... pick up the phone and call me? Just once... in all these years."
"Because I was a coward!" You sob, the words coming out in between gasps of air. "I was afraid that if I heard your voice, I'd break my promise and come back to you. I was afraid that if I heard you... I'd never leave you again..."
He takes another step towards you, a silent, almost involuntary movement.
His voice is softer now, a stark contrast to the anger of minutes ago.
"You would have come back... if you heard me?"
You manage a nod, your throat tight with suppressed emotions.
He takes another step, closing the distance a bit more. You could touch him now—reach out and brush his skin with your fingertips.
"Nevertheless you should have..."
His voice is barely above a whisper now, almost a plea.
He's only inches away, his eyes searching yours.
You take a deep breath, summoning every bit of courage you have left.
"I... I knew that every second I heard your voice, I'd love you more…"
Hearing that word—love—shifts something in him. His expression softens, the hardness leaving his eyes. He's so close now, his scent, his warmth surrounding you.
He whispers, his voice thick with emotion.
"You... you still love me?"
You open your mouth to respond only to be interrupted by a knock on the door.
The knock jolts us back to reality.
The moment shattered.
Rei seems to snap out of his daze, taking a step back, creating a distance between us.
His eyes flicker to the door, then back to me, hesitation flashing across his features.
"You should go..." He reiterates, his voice cold again.
My heart tightens, the anger replaced by a deeper hurt.
"Rei, please, just—"
Another knock. Louder this time, more insistent.
He ignores it, his gaze fixed on me.
"Please," he repeats, his tone cold, expression hardening again. "Just... leave."
The finality in his voice hits me like a dagger. I want to protest, to fight, to make him listen.. but I can see the resolute determination in his face.
I take a deep breath, forcing back the tears that want to spill from my eyes.
"Fine," I manage to choke out, swallowing the lump that's suddenly lodged in my throat.
He nods, the action so cold it hurts.
The knock on the door comes again, more forceful this time.
He seems to compose himself, straightening his shoulders.
"Good luck with your life," he mutters quietly.
His words sting. I want to tell him how much I miss him, how much I want to take back the last six years and rewrite everything we could have been.
But the expression on his face is firm now, his eyes betraying no emotion.
I try once again, one last plea.
"Rei—"
His gaze is like a wall now, the emotion from a few minutes ago, gone.
"Goodbye, Nata."
He takes a step backwards, his expression hard.
The moment slips from my fingers like sand.
I take one last look into his eyes, searching for any trace left of the love we once shared... but I find nothing.
A single word falls from my lips, almost like a prayer.
"Bye.."
One last look into his eyes.
One last moment suspended in time, and then I turn around and walk out.
The door shuts behind me, sealing off any chance of what could have unfolded if the knock had come two minutes later.
As I walk through the deserted corridors, the only sound is the echo of my footsteps.