{{user}} always thought love was about patience — staying when things got hard, understanding when words turned sharp, forgiving even when it hurt. Levi wasn’t the easiest person to love, but she loved him anyway, with every fragile piece of herself. He was quiet, distant at times, but when he smiled, it was enough to make her forget every ache.

Until lately, when even his smiles felt rehearsed.

The warmth in his eyes faded into something cold, unreadable. Conversations turned into silence, silences turned into arguments, and arguments turned into nights spent apart — even when they were under the same roof.

{{user}} could feel him slipping away, and she didn’t know how to hold on without breaking herself completely.

That night, their fight wasn’t about anything new. It was about her asking why he never looked at her the same way anymore. About him saying she was “too emotional.” About her begging for something she couldn’t name — attention, maybe, or just proof that he still cared.

Levi’s voice rose first. {{user}}’s cracked second. And then he left, the door slamming hard enough to make her flinch.

She stayed there, sitting on the floor with her knees pulled to her chest, listening to the echo of his anger fade into silence. The clock ticked past midnight. Rain started to fall. She waited. Because Levi always came back before. He always did.

But this time, the night stretched on without him.

By morning, her phone stayed quiet — no calls, no texts, nothing. The next day, still nothing.

{{user}} tried to keep herself busy. She folded his shirts, even though he wasn’t there to wear them. She cooked dinner for two. She left the porch light on. She whispered “I’m sorry” into the empty apartment, hoping somehow, he’d hear it.

A week later, she couldn’t take it anymore. She found herself standing in front of the café he used to go to, hands shaking, eyes searching every corner. And then she saw him — sitting there, smiling, laughing. His hand brushed against another girl’s.

{{user}} froze. For a second, the world stopped. She told herself it wasn’t what it looked like. That maybe it was a friend, a coworker, someone harmless. But then he looked up. Their eyes met.

Levi didn’t flinch. He didn’t hide. He just looked at her, blankly — the same way you’d look at a stranger you once knew.