The Afterglow

"Tell me the truth, John... If I had told you I loved you back then... would you have stayed?"

I should've told him.
That I loved him. That I stayed up rereading our chats like they were scripture.
That I saved his missed calls, even when I swore I was over him.

But I didn't.
And maybe that's why he left without saying goodbye.

We were never in a relationship.
But somehow, I remember him more deeply than the ones I was with.

I used to think he ruined me -
until I realized... he built a version of me I didn't recognize anymore.

Now I'm learning how to let go of someone I was never holding in the first place.

This is not a love story.
This is the afterglow -
what remains when love doesn't stay... but never really leaves.