sɪɴғᴜʟ sʜᴏᴛs ☄️

Confession is it?

"I love you, Alina."

He said it again, slowly, like I hadn't just heard him. Like he was trying to brand those words into the silence between us.

I froze.

"Ryan... I..."

The words got stuck in my throat. For a moment, I wasn't sure if my heart had stopped—or if it had started racing too fast to notice.

I had waited so long to hear this. I used to imagine this exact moment—his voice trembling, mine soft and breathless, the perfect kiss after a perfect confession. But now that it was here... something in me felt off. I didn't feel ready.

My chest tightened with a strange, aching confusion. Did I still want this?

He must have sensed the hesitation. His eyes, which had been so alive just moments ago, dulled with a slow hurt. He stepped back slightly—not out of pride, but out of pain.

"I'm sorry, Ryan..." I said, barely louder than the rain still falling around us.

We were drenched, standing at the edge of something that could've been beautiful. Neither of us moved. Neither of us wanted to.

But he reached out anyway, like he always did when I couldn't. He pulled me into his arms, gently lifting my chin until our eyes met.

"I love you, Alina. And I will do everything I can to make this possible... if you want it too."

His voice was trembling now, not with fear, but with hope. Real, raw, desperate hope.

I wanted to say yes. I wanted to leap into him, into that warmth, that comfort—but something still pulled at my spine. Something unfinished, unresolved.

He noticed it again.

"Tell me if you don't want this," he said softly. "Tell me now."

But I didn't answer. I didn't need to. The silence spoke too loudly.

We ended up inside, soaked and quiet, the tension between us fragile. He kissed me, like he needed to prove something—that this was real. That I wasn't just slipping away like everyone else.

And I kissed him back, like I needed to know if my heart could be convinced.

But the moment kept dissolving. The kisses, the hands, the heat—it all started to feel like trying to hold on to something that had already passed us.

Then, he pulled away slightly, breathing hard, and said something that broke my heart.

"I don't know why I was being so dumb all this time. But now I know who I want. It's you, babie."

My chest ached. Because I wanted to believe him. Because I did believe him.

But...

"Ryan, you're still in a relationship," I whispered.

His body stiffened. He stood and walked out to the balcony, hands on the railing, watching the rain like it was the only thing that made sense.

"I know," he said after a long pause. "But it's not real anymore. Hasn't been for a long time."

I followed him, sitting beside him in the swing. Neither of us spoke for a moment. The rain hit the leaves like soft drumbeats.

"She's cheating on me," he said finally, barely above a whisper.

I turned to look at him, surprised.

"I tried to break things off weeks ago. I even went to her place, to be honest with her. But when I got there, I heard voices. Laughter. I peeked through the door, and she was with another guy. Happy. Like I'd never even existed."