[First Draft] Unresolved (New Chapters Daily)

Part Fifteen

     

                 Robins POV

As I unlock the car doors, the click feels like a dismissal, an unspoken end to the unbearable silence between us. She doesn't waste a second—bolting out of the car as if it's on fire. No glance back, no hesitation. Just gone. Watching her fumble with her keys at the front door stirred something deep inside me. Jealousy, frustration... pain. I drop the handbrake down, hitting the gas a little harder than I meant to, the engine roaring in response. I don't care.

I glance in the rearview mirror as I speed down the street. She's already inside by the time I'm halfway down the block. That stings. After everything, that's it? Ouch.

I get it—she's hurting, her emotions all over the place, tangled up in grief and guilt. I know she cared about him, probably more than she ever let herself admit. But it gnaws at me, the feeling that he had something I don't. What did he have that made her care so much? What is it about him that still haunts her, even when he's gone?

Stop it. I shake my head, trying to dismiss the spiraling thoughts. I'm being pathetic, and I know it. I've known her for years—years longer than him. I've been there through every up and down, every late-night conversation and tearful breakdown. But in the end, it's him who's left the mark on her heart, not me.

Why does he still have this hold over her? Why can't I shake this feeling that I've already lost, even though he's not here to fight for her anymore? No, I scold myself, gripping the wheel until my knuckles turn white. I need to stop torturing myself with this.

I just need to give her time. That's what I keep telling myself. She'll calm down, eventually. She always does. Ending things with her—clean, simple—was the smart move. No complications, no evidence. It's safer this way. I know that, logically. But it doesn't stop the ache that tightens in my chest, gnawing at me with every mile I put between us.

My hands grip the steering wheel, knuckles white. I try to focus on the road ahead, but my mind keeps drifting back to her. To us. The way she looked at me—hurt, betrayed, furious—and I wonder if I'll ever see that look fade. It wasn't just a breakup, it was the shattering of something fragile, something we both kept together with fraying threads for too long.

But the worst part is... it hurts more than I ever thought it would. I didn't expect this—this hollow, aching feeling that won't go away. I thought cutting ties was the right thing, for both of us. No loose ends, no risk of this getting out and ruining everything. But it feels like I've ripped out a piece of myself. And now I'm bleeding.

Tears start forming, clouding my vision. I wipe them away aggressively, almost punishing myself for being this weak. Focus on the road. But even as I blink them back, they keep coming. Why did it have to end like this? She wasn't just some casual fling. She mattered. And now I've pushed her away.

There's no going back, no undoing what's been done. No easy way out of the mess we've created. But that's not what's tearing me apart. It's the thought of her moving on, of her forgetting me, of her figuring out how to live without me while I'm still here—still tethered to the weight of what we had.

You did the right thing, I remind myself, over and over like a mantra, trying to drown out the voice inside me screaming that I'm lying. But the truth? The truth is that I've just destroyed the best thing I had. And for what? Safety? My career?

I force my eyes back to the road, but the guilt sits heavy on my chest, suffocating me. The distance between us grows with every mile, and yet, it feels like she's still right there, right behind me, pulling me down with her.

As I turn the corner onto my street, the familiar row of houses comes into view, but something's off. Parked just a little down the road, almost blending into the shadows, is a grey Skoda Octavia VRS. My pulse quickens instantly. I know that car. Unmarked police. It has to be.