Hopelessly Yours

Hopelessly Yours

Ingrid Marcelline Aquino had always believed in the kind of love that could heal, that could bring two people together no matter the distance or the obstacles.

She had loved Thorin Remus Aurelian for as long as she could remember, and for a while, it felt like he might one day love her back.

His dark, thoughtful eyes, his soft smiles that never quite reached his lips when she was near, the way his presence filled the room-everything about him made her heart race in ways it shouldn't have. But there was always something in his gaze that kept her at arm's length, a quiet barrier she could never cross.

Thorin was a mystery wrapped in pain, someone who had always been there for Ingrid in ways no one else had, but never the way she wanted him to be. She tried to tell herself it was enough, that his kindness and his quiet affection were all she would ever need.

But the truth was, she wanted more. She wanted him to look at her and see her as more than just a friend. She wanted him to love her the way she loved him, even if that love was impossible.

And yet, he couldn't. Thorin's heart was not hers to claim, no matter how much she gave him. He loved in a way that wasn't meant for her.

He was gay, and though she knew it, though she tried to convince herself that their bond meant something deeper, the truth was always there, lurking in the spaces between their words and touches. She was never going to be the one he needed.

Ingrid's love for Thorin was both a comfort and a curse. It wrapped around her like a chain she couldn't break, a longing she couldn't escape.

She loved him hopelessly-knowing full well it would never be returned the way she wioneshed. And yet, she couldn't let go. Every moment with him felt like a flicker of hope, a faint possibility that maybe, just maybe, day things would change. But deep down, Ingrid knew that they never would.

She was hopelessly, desperately, irreversibly in love with him-and he would never be hers.