Soluna - Chaelisa (CONVERTED)

Chapter Eight

(TW // suicide)

Roseanne knocked on Jacob's door and ran a hand through her hair as she waited for him to open the door. Jacob opened the door and smiled tightly. "Hey." He greeted softly.

Roseanne nodded to him. "Hi." She whispered.

Jacob rubbed his neck as he moved back to give Roseanne space to step inside. He closed the door behind them when she was inside and leaned against the door. "Gabe's taking a nap." He told her. "So you'll have to wait for him to wake up." Jacob said.

Roseanne nodded as she sat down on the couch. "That's fine."

Jacob nodded. "So... how did it go?"

Roseanne looked up at Jacob. "Do you really want to know, Jacob?" she asked.

"Well, I rather hear it from you than someone else. Besides, I know you're dying to tell someone. You always bounce your knee when you have something to say or something's troubling you. And I'm wondering which one it is." Jacob answered.

Roseanne looked down at her bouncing knee and chuckled. "You've always known me well."

Jacob shrugged. "I've had nine years of experience." he smiled softly. "So?"

Roseanne smiled softly. "It went okay."

Jacob gave her a knowing look that said "I know there's more to it than that."

Roseanne continued. "We kinda talked... kinda did more than talk..." she mumbled with a blush.

Jacob chuckled awkwardly. "Well you're quick to catch up." He said.

Roseanne pushed him playfully before looking down at her bouncing knee again. "She's broken." She whispered.

Jacob raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"There's so much... sadness. And anger. I can tell she carries a lot on her shoulders." Roseanne observed. "And she's been carrying that since we first met." She frowned. "The thing is, she only shared to me a portion of what she felt. But I feel like there's more that she's not telling me. I want to help her, but... she told me I'm not enough to fix her. That's a punch in the face." She chuckled as she shook her head. "I love her still, Jacob, I do. But... I'm scared."

"What are you afraid of?" Jacob asked, raising an eyebrow.

"That..." Roseanne sighed as she ran a hand through her. "That I love Lisa from the past and not the present. And that as much as I try, I won't be able to find myself loving this new version of Lisa in comparison to the old one." She chuckled bitterly. "That's fucked up."

Jacob raised his hand slightly as he lifted up the sleeves of his button up shirt. "Can I put in my own input on this?"

Roseanne hummed as she crossed her arms and looked over at him. "Well I am sharing this all to you in hopes of input, so yes." She chuckled.

Jacob smiled at Roseanne before nodding. "All right, well, I still love you. That's obvious, right?" he asked.

Roseanne raised an eyebrow before nodding. "I'm not in the mood to discuss our failed marriage, Jacob."

Jacob nodded before continuing. "Yes, well I'm not either. That's not the point. What I mean by that is that, despite all the changes you went through, I managed to find bits of the old you and continue to love those and find bits of the new you and learn to love those." He chewed on his lip before continuing. "My perspective of love is learning to love your partner's growth. You're never the same person forever, you are constantly learning and changing and developing parts of you that were meant to unfold in those moments."