A/N: Daisies by Justin Bieber is perfect for this chapter !
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Aiah thought giving Mikha space would be easier.
At first, it was.
The first few days after Mikha left for Japan, Aiah threw herself into her routine—morning school runs, endless work meetings, yoga classes she promised herself she'd finally take seriously. She even picked up cooking again, rediscovering a long-lost love for trying out new recipes that Kaela mostly enjoyed and sometimes just tolerated.
She kept busy. Kept distracted.
But it was the quiet moments that got to her.
Like when she caught herself reaching for two mugs instead of one in the morning. Or when she walked into the kitchen and found the small succulent Mikha had left her sitting by the window, thriving under the sunlight.
It was the little things.
The absence of Mikha's casual drop-ins, the way she'd leave her coffee mug in the sink, or the sound of her laugh filling Aiah's living room.
One weekend, Stacey invited her out for lunch, and Aiah, desperate for a distraction, agreed.
At the restaurant, Stacey sipped her iced tea and studied Aiah carefully.
"So," Stacey said casually, twirling her straw. "How's the 'figuring things out' phase going?"
Aiah groaned, leaning back in her seat. "We're really doing this?"
Stacey smirked. "Of course, we are. Come on, Aiah . It's been weeks. You've barely mentioned her."
Aiah stared at her untouched pasta. "Because there's nothing to say. She's there, I'm here. We agreed to space."
Stacey raised a brow. "And how's that working out for you?"
Aiah sighed, rubbing her temples. "Honestly? It's... hard."
Stacey reached across the table, squeezing Aiah's hand. "It's okay to miss her, you know."
Aiah smiled weakly. "Yeah, but missing her doesn't change anything, does it?"
Later that night, Aiah found herself sitting in bed, flipping through an old photo album tucked away in the back of her closet. Pictures of her and Juancho from years ago, from their wedding, from Kaela's first birthday. She traced the edges of the photos with careful fingers, and for the first time in a long time, she didn't feel the sting of regret—just a quiet acceptance.
They had been happy, once. But that chapter was over now.
And Aiah was finally starting to accept it.
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Aiah started journaling.
It felt silly at first—she hadn't written in a diary since she was a teenager—but Stacey suggested it, and she figured it couldn't hurt.
She wrote about her day.
About Kaela and how she was adjusting to the new normal.
About work and how strange it was to come home to an empty house, knowing Juancho wasn't coming back.
And, of course, she wrote about Mikha.
How she missed her, but also how she was grateful for the space to breathe.
One weekend, she joined Maloi and Sheena for a yoga retreat. It was something she never would have done before, but there was something liberating about being in a space where no one knew her, where she wasn't defined by her past relationships or current struggles.
