I'm For You

-10-

The world outside the gallery seemed to melt away as they stood there, foreheads pressed together, their breaths mingling in the space between them. It was as if that kiss had drawn them into a place beyond time, where nothing else existed but the two of them. The unspoken emotions they had carried for so long hung in the air, waiting to be unraveled.

Crystal was the first to break the silence, his voice low and hoarse, as if the words had been lodged in his throat for too long. "I'm scared." he confessed, his eyes still closed, as if afraid that opening them would shatter whatever fragile connection they'd just rediscovered. "Scared that we'll end up right back where we were. That nothing will change."

Gigi felt his fear as if it were her own. She drew back slightly, just enough to look at him, to really see him. "I'm scared too." she admitted, her fingers still resting against his chest. "I've been scared for a long time. Scared of losing you. Scared of not being enough."

He let out a shaky breath, his eyes meeting hers with an intensity that sent a shiver down her spine. "You've always been enough, Gigi." he said, and the sincerity in his voice was undeniable. "You've always been more than enough. It's me…I didn't know how to handle everything. The distance, the fights…I felt like I was losing you, and instead of reaching out, I pulled away."

Gigi nodded, feeling a tear slip down her cheek. "I did the same." she whispered. "I thought that if I pushed you away first, it wouldn't hurt as much when you finally left. But all I did was build a wall between us, and I kept adding to it, brick by brick, until I couldn't even see you anymore."

Crystal reached up, gently wiping away her tear with his thumb, his touch feather-light. "We were both building that wall..." he murmured. "And the more we tried to protect ourselves, the more we ended up hurting each other."

She nodded, her heart aching with the truth of his words. "I don't want to be like that anymore." she said, her voice trembling. "I don't want us to keep running from the hard things, pretending they'll just disappear. I want us to face them, together. Even if it's messy, even if it's painful."

He took her hands in his, holding them between them as if they were something fragile. "But how?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper. "How do we do that without falling apart again?"

Gigi took a deep breath, grounding herself in the warmth of his hands, the steadiness of his gaze. "We start by being honest." she said, her voice gaining strength. "No more hiding, no more pretending everything's fine when it's not. We need to talk about the things that hurt us, the things that scare us. We need to be vulnerable, even when it's uncomfortable."

Crystal nodded, his eyes never leaving hers. "I've been so afraid of showing you my weaknesses..." he admitted. "Afraid that if you saw the cracks, you'd leave. But I can't keep pretending I have it all together. I don't."

"And I don't want you to." Gigi replied, her voice soft but firm. "I want to see all of you, Crystal, the good, the bad, the parts that are still healing. I want to be there with you, not just when things are easy, but when they're hard too."

His grip tightened on her hands, as if anchoring himself to her words. "I need to do better..." he said, his voice breaking. "I need to stop shutting you out when things get tough. I need to trust that you won't run away."

"And I need to let you in..." Gigi responded, her eyes never leaving his. "I've spent so long being afraid of needing someone, of relying on anyone but myself. But the truth is…I need you. I need you to be a part of my life, not just as a memory or a distant figure, but as someone who's really there. And I'm willing to work on that. To open up, even when it feels scary."

Crystal's eyes softened, and he pulled her closer, wrapping his arms around her as if trying to make up for all the times he hadn't. "We've hurt each other." he said, his voice thick with emotion. "And I know it's not going to be easy. But I want to try, Gigi. I want to try for us. Because losing you…that's the only thing I can't handle."