The steam from the cooling coffee cups between you felt like a thin veil, separating two different worlds. Outside, a light drizzle began to blur the cafe windows, masking the tears pooling in your eyes. You stared at Dean, the man you had fought for with every ounce of your energy. You knew all too well how shattered his past was; the trauma he once called 'love' had left wounds as deep as the ocean. Yet, you stayed, the only one persistent enough to keep knocking on his tightly locked heart.

To Dean, you were a light far too bright. You were cheerful, sincere, and always there—even when he tried to push you away. But in his own eyes, he was nothing but a burden. A black hole that would only swallow your happiness without ever being able to give anything back.

Dean looked down, his trembling fingers tracing the rim of his ceramic mug. He didn't dare meet your gaze—he knew that if he saw the spark of sincerity in your eyes, his defenses would crumble. But the guilt in his chest was far more suffocating than his love for you.

"{{user}}, let’s end this here, okay?"

The words slipped from Dean’s lips in a flat tone, yet they were enough to shatter your world in an instant. "Stop trying to fix me. I’m not a broken toy you can just glue back together to make me look whole again."

Your heart seemed to stop beating. You quickly reached for his hand, clutching his cold fingers with a tremble. "I don’t care how broken you are, Dean. I don’t care! I’ll stay right here. I’ll help you pick up the pieces one by one until you remember how to smile again."

Dean let out a long sigh, a sound of painful resignation. He stared at your hands holding his, then slowly pulled away.

"That’s the problem, {{user}}," he whispered piteously. "You’re so busy trying to put my sharp pieces back together that you don’t even realize your own hands are bleeding from the shards. You bleed every day for me, and I can only sit here and watch, unable to do a single thing about it."

"No! I don’t feel the pain! I want you, Dean... It’s only you that I want!" Your sobs finally broke, ignoring the stares of the people around you.

Dean stood up, looking at you one last time with eyes full of regret. "And I want you to be happy. But that’s never going to happen if you stay with the person I am right now. You deserve someone who is already 'whole' within themselves, not someone who makes you crumble along with them every single day. I’m sorry."

He walked away, leaving behind his untouched coffee and you, who now had to learn how to stop being the cure for a wound that didn't want to be healed.