Tim was a man of few words, but he was observant. He had always prided himself on being able to read people, to know when something was wrong even if they weren't saying it out loud. And with Lucy, the signs were impossible to ignore. She was slipping away from him, and no matter what he did, she wouldn't let him in.
At first, it had been subtle—the way she'd pick at her food instead of eating, the way she'd brush off his concern with a lighthearted comment. But over time, it became more glaring.
Her uniform, once snug and perfectly fitted, now hung loose on her frame. Her once bright, laughing eyes had dulled, and the easy banter they used to share had faded into awkward silences. He missed her—the real her.
One night, as they lay in bed, Tim couldn't keep quiet any longer. The silence between them was suffocating, and he needed to break through it before it swallowed them both.
"Lucy," he said, his voice low, "I'm worried about you."
He felt her body tense beside him. She didn't say anything for a long moment, the quiet stretching between them like a chasm. Finally, she whispered, "I'm fine."
But it was a lie. He could hear it in her voice, could feel it in the way she pulled away from him ever so slightly.
He wanted to push, to demand that she tell him what was really going on, but he knew that approach wouldn't work. Lucy was stubborn, fiercely independent, and if he pushed too hard, she would shut him out completely.
Still, watching her slip further away was agony. He loved her—deeply, completely—and the thought of losing her, of watching her self-destruct, was unbearable.
He wasn't sure how much longer he could stand by, watching her pretend everything was okay when it so clearly wasn't.
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Breaking Point
FanfictionThis story follows Lucy Chen, a police officer grappling with intense inner turmoil and the pressures of her demanding career. Despite the support of her boyfriend Tim and her mother Zoe, who is also her captain, Lucy struggles in silence, hiding he...
