When Dreams Collide: Y/N and Elizabeth Olsen RE WRITING

Chapter 21 : When Love Isn't Enough

Chapter 21: When Love Isn’t Enough

Lizzie had known for a long time that something was breaking between her and Robbie. Not in a sudden, shattering way—but in the slow, aching kind, like a favorite sweater unraveling thread by thread. They had tried to hold it together. Therapy sessions. Long walks. Empty reassurances. Talk of the future, of kids, of how love should be enough to fix what was broken.

But love, she was starting to realize, wasn’t always enough.

Tonight, as she sat in their dimly lit living room, waiting for him to come home, she felt the final thread slip through her fingers.

Her hands tightened around the glass of water in her lap. Her heart pounded, not with anger, but with something quieter—resignation. A sadness so deep it felt like an old friend.

When the door creaked open, Robbie stepped inside, guitar case slung over his shoulder, his face drawn with exhaustion. He paused when he saw her.

He knew.

She could see it in the way his shoulders sagged, in the way he avoided her gaze as he set his keys on the table. This wasn’t a fight. It wasn’t betrayal. It was two people staring at the truth they had both been too afraid to say out loud.

Lizzie swallowed the lump in her throat and forced the words out.

“Robbie, we need to talk.”

A ghost of a smile flickered across his face, sad and knowing. “Yeah. I figured.”

He didn’t sit beside her. Instead, he sank into the armchair across from her, rubbing a hand over his tired face. “What’s on your mind?”

Lizzie took a shaky breath. “I’ve been trying to convince myself that we could make this work. That I could love you the way you deserve. But I can’t ignore it anymore. A part of me is still in love with Y/N.”

The words came out raw and trembling, but once they were spoken, she felt lighter. The weight of pretending lifted, leaving only truth between them.

Robbie exhaled, leaning back against the chair. He didn’t look angry. He didn’t even look surprised. If anything, he looked… relieved.

“I knew,” he admitted softly. “Maybe not in the beginning. But over time, it became obvious. The way you’d go quiet sometimes. The way your mind was always somewhere else, someone else.”

Tears welled in Lizzie’s eyes. “I never wanted to hurt you.”

“I know,” he said, his voice steady but thick with emotion. “And I know you tried. I did too. I told myself that if we loved each other enough, we could outrun the past. But love shouldn’t feel like running, should it?”

Lizzie shook her head, tears slipping down her cheeks. “No. It shouldn’t.”

Silence stretched between them, heavy and fragile. Then, Robbie let out a slow breath and said something that made Lizzie’s stomach twist.

“I need to tell you something too.”

She wiped at her face and looked at him warily. “What is it?”

He hesitated, rubbing the back of his neck before finally meeting her eyes. “I’ve been seeing someone.”

The words crashed over her like a wave. She blinked, trying to process, trying to breathe.

“Who?” Her voice was barely above a whisper.

He sighed. “Jenna. My bandmate.”

Lizzie’s heart clenched. “Since when?”

“It wasn’t planned,” Robbie said quickly. “I swear, Lizzie, I never wanted to betray you. But one night, I just… I felt like I could breathe around her. Like I wasn’t waiting for something that was never coming.”

Lizzie squeezed her eyes shut. “And you didn’t think I deserved to know?”

Robbie’s face twisted in regret. “I was scared. Scared of hurting you. Scared of facing what this means. But seeing you here tonight, hearing you say you’re still in love with Y/N… I think we both know this has been over for a while.”

Lizzie opened her mouth, but no words came. Because he was right.

She wasn’t angry. She wasn’t betrayed. She was just… tired.

Tired of pretending. Tired of fighting against something neither of them could change.

Tired of holding onto something that had already slipped away.

“I just wish you had been honest with me sooner,” she whispered.

Robbie’s face softened. “I wish the same.”

They sat in silence, watching each other across the room. The walls, once filled with laughter and whispered dreams, felt unfamiliar now—like a home that no longer belonged to them.

Finally, Robbie spoke again. “I love you, Liz. I do. But love shouldn’t feel this hard.”

Lizzie swallowed against the lump in her throat. “No, it shouldn’t.”

He reached across the space between them, taking her hand in his. His fingers were warm, familiar. But they didn’t feel like home anymore.

“It’s time to let go,” he said gently.

Lizzie nodded, her tears falling freely now. “It’s time.”

Letting Go with Grace

The next few days passed in a blur of quiet goodbyes. They divided their belongings not with bitterness, but with understanding. There were no screaming matches, no dramatic ultimatums—just two people parting with as much love as they had once found each other.

On their last night together, they shared a quiet dinner at the kitchen table, the same place they had once planned their future.

“I hope you find happiness, Robbie,” Lizzie murmured.

He reached for her hand one last time. “And I hope you find peace, Liz.”

A New Beginning

A week later, Robbie was gone. Lizzie stood by the window, watching as his car disappeared down the street.

She expected to feel empty.

But instead, she felt something else.

Relief.

Not because she didn’t love him. But because sometimes, the kindest thing you can do for someone you love is let them go.

As she turned away from the window, she took a deep, steady breath. The past had held her long enough.

It was time to start again.

Epilogue: A Letter from Robbie

A few weeks later, Lizzie found an envelope on her doorstep. Robbie’s handwriting scrawled across the front.

She hesitated before opening it, her heart pounding.

Liz,

I don’t know if this letter will bring you comfort or just more questions, but I needed to write it.

Thank you—for loving me, even when it wasn’t easy. For trying, even when you weren’t sure. For giving us a chance, even when your heart belonged somewhere else.

I don’t regret us. I never will.

But I know now that love isn’t about holding on when it hurts. It’s about knowing when to let go.

I hope you find what you’re looking for. I hope one day, when we look back on this, we’ll both see that letting go was the best thing we ever did.

With love,
Robbie

Lizzie folded the letter carefully, pressing it to her chest.

For the first time in a long while, she didn’t feel like she was standing in the ruins of something broken.

She was standing at the edge of something new.

And for the first time, she was ready.