The Unspoken Words

Falling

Chapter 3: Falling

Over the next few weeks, they started talking more. It began with small exchanges—about books, about life, about the city they both called home. But soon, those moments stretched into longer conversations, and something shifted.

Lily found herself waiting for him at the end of every shift, watching the door with a mix of anticipation and dread. She hadn’t meant for things to get complicated. But with him, everything was complicated.

One night, as the snow began to fall outside, she sat across from him at his usual booth, a half-empty coffee cup between them. He was quiet tonight, more distant than usual.

“What’s on your mind?” she asked, leaning forward slightly.

He met her gaze, his expression unreadable. Then, almost as if he had been waiting for the right moment, he said, “I never meant to fall for you.”

The words hung in the air like a fragile thread. Lily’s heart skipped a beat. She had known, of course. She had felt it in the way he looked at her, the way his presence filled the room. But hearing it out loud made it real.

She didn’t answer at first, unsure of how to respond. The silence stretched between them, comfortable yet heavy with all the things they weren’t saying. Finally, she whispered, “Then why did you?”

His lips curved into a sad smile. “I think... because I couldn’t help it. And maybe... I didn’t want to.”