"Raven", my lips started trembling
"Yes love",he looks at me
"Please love me like you loved me in my dreams" I begged. Tears running down my cheeks.
" I tried Elora. But I think I've lost the part of me who once truly loved you. I can't love you any...
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*A year later*
The apartment was dressed in warm gold and sleepy shadows, the kind of lighting that made people forget time and remember emotions. Elora checked her reflection in the bathroom mirror again , second time in five minutes. Her dress, pale and minimal, clung with a kind of casual elegance she rarely allowed herself. She was always a little too careful, too hesitant to occupy space. But tonight was different.
She heard Levis laugh in the other room. His voice had that comforting baritone . There was music playing from his phone , an old indie track neither of them knew the name of but liked enough to never skip.
“Ready?” he called.
She stepped out, grabbing her coat. "Almost. You packed the wine?"
Levis nodded and held up the bottle, grinning like a schoolboy with a secret. "Only the good stuff. For the people we pretend to still be close with."
---
The dinner party was hosted in an old refurbished loft, filled with voices that blurred together like an impressionist painting. The smell of burnt sugar and lemon zest lingered in the air, clinging to the exposed brick walls and dangling vines.
The host—Anika—was someone they had both known during college. Once eccentric, now polished. She greeted Elora with the kind of hug that lingers just enough to feel intentional. "God, look at you. You haven’t changed."
Elora wanted to respond. She didn’t. Not in the way Anika probably meant. The Elora of back then would have spun stories, collected laughs, and curated charm. This version of her offered soft smiles and watched more than she spoke. But she felt more comfortable speaking her mind. A fruition of her personal growth and how she learned to articulate her inner thoughts better. How insightful she has become.
Levis seemed to melt into the atmosphere. Everyone loved him. He had that soft-spoken magnetism that made people want to tell him secrets, even if he never asked for them.
---
The evening flowed like a low tide. Wine glasses refilled, and someone played a nostalgic 2000s playlist that made everyone pretend they weren’t aging. Elora stood near a windowsill, sipping her drink slowly, staring out at the skyline.
"You good?" Levis appeared beside her, handing her a new glass. Noticed hers was nearly empty. He always noticed things like that.
"Yeah," she said. "Just... soaking it all in."
He nodded. Didn't push. He rarely did. That was one of the reasons she had allowed herself to lean into him. Levis didn’t demand her past. He simply made space for it to exist.
It's like letting a little girl roam around and dance in the rain while he sits on the side lines watching her. She could come running to him anytime if she needs him.
