Acid | Colin Ritman [Discontinued]

Rain hit the pavement like shattered glass, soaking through my jacket, my hair, my thoughts. I was halfway down the street, furious, breath heavy, when I heard his voice behind me.

"Y/N-wait!"

I turned, fists clenched at my sides, water dripping from my lashes. "What do you want, Colin? Haven't you scrambled my head enough already?"

He stopped a few feet away, rain running down his face like tears he wouldn't ever let fall himself. "You don't get it," he said, voice low, rough. "You think this is just some glitch in your day? A weird coincidence?"

I shook my head, backing away. "You act like you know me-like you've known me-but I just met you! You're a stranger with too many secrets and a stare like it knows things it shouldn't."

Colin stepped forward. "Because I do know you!"

My breath caught.

"I remember every version of you," he went on, voice cracking. "Every timeline. Every branch. Every weird little tangent. In every reality I end up in, somehow-you're always there. And I-" he stopped, exhaling hard, "I always fall for you."

The rain hammered between us, but I barely noticed it now.

"You don't even know me," I whispered.

"I know how you hate raisins in your cereal. I know you tap your pen three times before answering a hard question. I know your laugh comes out of your nose first when something really gets you. And I know that even when you're furious like this-" his eyes locked with mine, "-you're just scared of being the only one who doesn't remember."

I didn't speak. I couldn't. The weight of it, the surreal ache-it was too much.

"I loved every you," he said quietly. "And I keep losing you. Over and over."

My lip trembled. "Then stop finding me."

"I can't," he whispered. "Even if I tried."

The silence between us burned hotter than any argument. And the rain kept falling.

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𝙎𝙏𝘼𝙍𝙏: April 19, 2025
𝙁𝙄𝙉𝙄𝙎𝙃:

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