The girl next door

den... every

g. The spark that once felt like fire now felt li

iling, to laugh with my siblings, to show up onl

was fall

new me-the ones I trusted enough to see my tears. They listened, tri

rning, I couldn'

e plain truth-that it was starting to feel like I was forcing the relationship. That he

... I lo

ded s

ed to

efore I c

my pillow soaked in silence. Unt

I opened my phone

d she w

waking up to a text from the person you love. Like the sun finally peeking through

hey d

y... but she

t, calm but full of pain. I told her I didn't feel the same conn

d with a v

any problems. I understood that. I really did. But what

ed to

hip? To know everything about each other? To

one to hold her. That when life got hard, I wanted to stand b

didn't

t say a

. Quietly. Numbly. Until she ended it with the

e talking e

was

at moment, somethi

also

ession

ybe I always would. But that intense,

mething els

saw myself slipping...

back to my old frea

scared me

started doubting everything-my worth, my heart, my future. I hated that I let someone have

ll lo

e obsessed wi

any gi

ves me without conditions. Someone who understands that love is a c

y I'll find

ow, I'm c