on your own.

six

11:45

Y/n

"So, you ran away because things became overwhelming with your dad?" I asked, my voice soft as I listened to Ariana's story about her family. She had spent the last twenty minutes explaining how hard it had been to be around him, how the distance between them had grown over the years.

From what I could remember, her father had recently reappeared in their lives, but he hadn't been supportive of her, and that made things even worse.

"Yeah, I just constantly worried about how he'd react if I came out to him. And I would have to deal with my mom, too," she said, her voice tinged with the familiar weight of uncertainty.

"But even without that, it was really hard to bond with him. You probably remember me ranting to you about him in the past."

I nodded, my mind wandering back to those conversations, but the memories felt hazy now—blurred by the fog of time. It was almost as if I had pushed those thoughts away. The pain, the confusion, all of it had started to fade.

But here we were, standing in front of each other, those old feelings bubbling up again.

"What about your mom, though?" I asked, trying to shift the conversation. "I know you were close with her at one point."

She looked down for a moment, then slowly met my gaze. "We were close... But things changed. She's not the same, and I guess I'm not either. It's hard to explain. I guess... I grew up, but she stayed where she was. It's hard to find common ground when the person you were once close with isn't the same anymore."

As I watched her closely, I couldn't help but think of the saying: You can't find the same person twice, not even in the same person. Maybe that was true, but the capability the mind has to show me that I could still see the person I had missed all these years—it was enough for me.

Maybe she wasn't the same girl I fell in love with as a teenager, but now this was a woman standing before me, and I had a decision to make: learn to love her as she is now, or walk away.

I stood there, my eyes lingering on our joined hands. I couldn't help but think that even though we had drifted apart, there was still something between us. Something that could be salvaged if only we both tried.

But as I stood there with her, Victoria's words from earlier lingered in my mind once again: Why am I here? What did I come for?

"Y/n? You're blanking out on me." Ariana's voice snapped me back to reality. "Why were you looking at me like that? You probably think I'm crazy now for running away from my parents."

I quickly grabbed her hand, squeezing it gently as I gave her a reassuring smile. "That's not why. If anything, I understand why you ran. In a way, we both left to be set free. There's nothing crazy about wanting to be free."

She looked at me, her expression softening. "Yeah, I guess we both needed to break free from something."

There was a heaviness in the air now, a weight we both carried. But at the same time, there was also a sense of understanding between us. We were no longer the same people who had once been together, but we still found a way to connect—if only for a moment.

Her voice broke the silence, soft and vulnerable. "Y/n, do you ever wonder if it's too late for us?"

The question hung in the air, heavy and uncertain. I was silent for a moment, reflecting on it. The thought had crossed my mind more times than I cared to admit. But in that silence, I realized something.

"I don't know," I said finally, my voice steady. "But I do know that I'm not ready to walk away from this. From you. Not yet."

She looked at me, her gaze searching mine, a flicker of hope behind her eyes. She pulled her hand away, running a hand through her hair, the tension returning. "I don't know what to do, Y/n. I really don't."

I nodded, feeling the weight of her uncertainty. We were standing on the edge of something, and neither of us knew whether we should leap forward or pull back. But in this moment, I knew one thing: I wasn't ready to let go. Not yet.

I stood up, extending my hand to her. "Let's just take it one step at a time, okay?"

She looked at me, hesitant, unsure. But after a beat, she reached out and took my hand, standing up beside me. For a moment, we just stood there, the silence between us speaking volumes. We both knew that things wouldn't be the same as they were before, but that didn't mean it was over.

"Do you want to go for a walk? Talk some more?" she asked, breaking the tension.

I nodded, feeling a warmth spread through me at her suggestion. "Yeah, I'd like that."

Ariana guided me towards the front of the house and to a small pathway leading to a field. I couldn't shake the thought that the path we were on was still uncertain. We were still figuring out who we were, both to each other and to ourselves. But as we walked, something changed. The tension between us started to ease, and I realized that maybe—just maybe—there was still hope.