"Funny how I was better before you—before everything started to feel heavier than it should. Back then, I didn't have you, but I had a kind of peace that didn't need explaining, a happiness that didn't depend on anyone else staying. I knew who I was, and I didn't question my worth the way I do now. But somewhere along the way, loving you made me forget how to hold on to myself. I traded my quiet, steady world for something uncertain, something that slowly took more than it gave. And now, even with you here, I find myself missing the version of me that existed before you came into my life."
