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Melissa hadn't thought about you in months - years even. Or at least, that's what she liked to tell herself. You, with your infectious laugh, the one who had taken her last name once upon a time, and the one who had walked out of her life as quickly as you entered it. You had been divorced for 3 years now, and yet, here she was, sitting alone in her Philly row home, nursing a glass of wine and thinking about you, again.
It was one of those nights when the quiet felt too loud, and the memories crept in despite her best efforts to push them away. You'd been married for 10 years, ten long, beautiful, chaotic years that filled her life with more joy and heartbreak than she'd ever expect. But the arguments had come, slow at first, then in torrents, until there was nothing but silence. And you left, taking the quiet with you.
Melissa never told anyone, but she never really moved on. She dated here and there, flirted with the idea of letting someone else in, but no one quite fit like you had. No one filled the spaces you left behind.
"Ah, screw it" she muttered under her breath, setting her glass on the coffee table a little harder than necessary. She grabbed her coat, keys jingling in her hand. She needed air. Maybe that would clear her head, shake the thoughts of you loose.
As she stepped out into the cool Philly night, her phone buzzed in her pocket. She pulled it out, not expecting anything but a spam call or some notification, but her heart stopped when she saw your name light up her phone screen.
You hadn't texted her in.. well she couldn't remember the last time. Your message was simple:
Y/n: Hey. I'm in town. Can we talk?
Melissa stared at the message for longer than she wanted to admit, her thumb hovering over the keyboard. What could you possibly have to talk about now? After all this time? A part of her wanted to ignore it, let the past stay where it belonged, but the bigger part of her - the part that still thought of you on nights like this - couldn't resist.
Melissa: Sure. Where?
She found herself at a small diner on the edge of South Philly, the one the both of you used to go to after long days at work when neither of you felt like cooking. The familiarity of it made her chest tighten.
You were already there. Sitting in a booth, nervously fiddling with your sugar packets. The moment she saw you, it was like no time had passed at all. You looked the same - maybe a little older, sure, but the same person she had fallen for all those years ago.
"Melissa," you greeted softly, standing as she approached.
"Y/n," she replied, her voice a little gruff. She slid into the booth across from you, unsure of what to say. What was there to say?
There was a beat of silence before you spoke again. "How've you been?"
Melissa chuckled dryly. "You didn't text me for five years just to ask how I've been, have you?"
You winced at her bluntness, but she wasn't about to sugarcoat anything. That was never her style. Still, you nodded, taking a deep breath.
"No, I didn't. I..." you hesitated, looking down at your hands. "I've been thinking about us. A lot, actually. And I guess I just - I wanted to see you. I know things ended badly but-"
"But what?" Melissa interrupted, her voice sharper than she intended. She softened when she saw the look in your eyes "Sorry just... you're not exactly giving me much here, y/n."
You nodded again, biting your lip. "I miss you, Lissa"
Her heart clenched at the sound of her old nickname on your lips. You hadn't called her that in so long, and hearing it stirred something deep inside her that she thought had long since died.
"You miss me?" she repeated, her voice quieter now. "After all this time?"
"Yeah," you whispered "I do."
Melissa stared at you, her mind racing. She wanted to be angry at you, to ask why it took M so long for you to realise that. But the truth was, she missed you too. She had never really stopped.
"You know, I thought I moved on." Melissa admitted, her voice low. "But seeing you now? It's like I'm back where I was five years ago.. sitting in this same diner with you, wondering where it all went wrong."
You looked down, shame flickering across your face. "I'm sorry Lissa, I really am. I didn't know how to fix things back then. But I've a lot of time to think, and I know now that I should never have let you go."
Melissa sighed, running her hand through her hair. "It's not that simple, y/n. We had our problems, real problems."
"I know." You said quickly, leaning forward. "But I've changed Mel. I've grown. And I'm not saying we can fix everything overnight, but I want to try. I still love you."
There it was. The words hung between you like a lifeline, and Melissa felt her breath catch. She'd waited so long to hear you say those words again, and now that you had, she didn't know what to do with them.
She looked down at her hands, the hands that once held yours through every up and down, every fight and every reconciliation. Could she do it again? Could she open herself up to the possibility of being hurt?
"Melissa?" Your voice broke through her thoughts, soft and hesitant.
"I never stopped loving you." She admitted quietly, her eyes meeting yours. "That's the problem."
You blinked in surprise by her admission. "Then maybe... that's not a problem. Maybe that's the start of something new."
Melissa chuckled softly, shaking her head. "You always did know how to talk your way out of everything"
"Not always," you said with a sad smile. "But I'm hoping I can talk my way back into your heart."
She laughed at that, a real laugh, and for the first time in years, she felt something shift inside her. Maybe it wasn't too late. Maybe the flame between you had never gone out.
"Alright y/n," Melissa said, leaning back in the booth, a small smile tugging at her lips. "Let's see how this goes"
Your eyes lit up with hope, and Melissa felt that familiar warmth flood her chest. Maybe, just maybe, you were both ready this time.
