He didn’t even look you in the eye when he said it. “I think… I think it’s time we take a break. I need space to… grow. Emotionally.” You stared at him, heart stumbling over itself. “What?” Sam’s hands twisted in his lap, those long fingers flexing nervously. “I just-there’s so much I haven’t figured out. About me. About what I want. I can’t give you what you need right now.” Your throat closed up, but you forced a nod, a brittle smile. “No, yeah, sure. That’s… that’s fine. Totally fine.” It wasn’t fine. You expected him to cave. To come back after a week, after two, after he realized the silence without you was unbearable. That was Sam’s pattern restless but tethered. And you were the tether. Except this time, he didn’t. This time, he disappeared into his books, his hunts, his own head and the phone stayed silent. Nights bled together. You lay in bed, phone clutched tight, wondering how someone who once touched you like you were oxygen could cut you off like a bad habit. All your friends were in love, paired off, planning futures. “He’ll come back,” “Guys like that always do.”But deep down, you knew better. You used to think he was different. Smart, kind, intense in a way that felt rare. But maybe that was the cruelest joke of all. He wasn’t different. He was just another boy who didn’t know how to stay. And God, did that fuck you up. And here he was in the same bar as you… across the room.