𝘕𝘖𝘛 𝘛𝘖𝘋𝘈𝘠 | RHEA RIPLEY

𝓒 ᴴᴬᴾᵀᴱᴿ 35 | not today

"I have feelings for you - - I still have feelings for you. And I can't let you leave tonight without admitting it."

Her words were practically echoing in the room, but other than that, the room was full of complete silence.

It was as if time had stopped and it was so quiet that Alex was sure enough that Rhea was hearing how loud her heart was beating against her chest. Though, Rhea remained frozen for, what it seemed like, eternity.

She still had her back turned toward Alex, but her hand was no longer on the doorknob to leave like she was originally going to. All Alex saw was her shoulders moving up and down as she took deep breaths in, not moving any muscle aside from that.

Alex didn't know what to do or what else to say. She was honestly expecting Rhea to react to this - in disgust, maybe, or anything other than complete silence - which would cause her to respond with whatever Rhea reacted with.

But, there was nothing. Just stillness and pressure against her heart she thought her words would've relieved.

However, she knew she had to gather the words to say something - to, at least, get some of the thoughts out of her head, so they quit yelling at her.

Alex breathed in, taking a small step toward Rhea, "And I know what I did years ago - and I know how unforgivable my actions were, and I don't expect you to accept everything I'm saying, but I can't deal with keeping it inside anymore,"

Alex was allowing herself to speak the truth of it all and letting her thoughts run free out of her lips. And that meant the inevitable tears would form in her eyes - something she would fight away, because the last thing she wanted to do was cry.

"Because ever since I saw you again so many months ago, I have regretted the decision I made in leaving you years ago," She continued speaking and her voice began cracking unavoidably as well before her eyes witnessed Rhea's head begin to shake.

"And even before then, I've regretted it. Ever since I stepped onto that plane to fly back to Florida without telling you," Alex kept watching her shake her head as she proceeded in referring to their past without any consideration or thought of how badly this could possibly turn out to be.

It was then that Rhea turned her head to her slightly, turning her body as well, as she shook her head, "Alex, I don't know what you're talking about,"

And Alex couldn't believe she was denying it at this moment.

She was pouring her heart out of everything she has felt for years and years, and Rhea was still pretending to be this way - like it didn't happen, like she didn't care - but Alex could see it in her eyes, that this was affecting her in the slightest.

"Rhea, please," Her pleads were strained, her tears threatening to come out, "Please, don't deny this now,"

Alex kept her eyes on Rhea, who had turned around to her completely, as she was struggling to keep her eyes on Alex's, "I'm sorry - I'm so sorry about everything I did and I'm sorry I hurt you."

This was clearly getting to her and seeing Alex on the brink of crying was having an effect on her too.

"But please, stop denying what we had - the relationship we had, the feelings we had - -

"No," Rhea simply stated back in disapproval, clearly at war with her emotions, as Alex took steps toward her.

"You've driven me crazy with everything you've denied, knowing damn well how much we cared about each other,"

Alex kept going, fighting against Rhea and causing all that was conflicting her, "And I've dealt with it all this time because I deserved it, but I'm done. I can't just continue to deny everything we had together - - everything we felt - - it's just too much for me to let go,"