The rain came down in relentless droplets, soaking you to the bone. The night air was cold, but not nearly as cold as the way Mattheo looked at you. His dark curls were plastered to his forehead. He didn't move. Neither did you.

Your heart was already broken into a thousand pieces, but he did nothing to fix it. In fact, he broke it more.

Your chest heaved, your throat burned with unspoken words, but you didn't care. Not with him standing there, pretending he didn't care about you. Pretending that none of it mattered.

“Why are you doing this? I love you, Mattheo.” you cried, voice barely audible over the storm.

Mattheo let out a bitter laugh. “Because I have to.” His fists clenched at his sides. “We don’t work, and you know it.”

Tears mixed with the rain as you stepped closer. “That doesn’t mean I can stop loving you!”

Mattheo's jaw tightened. His eyes were unreadable, but his body was shaking. Then he whispered, "You have to. You have to stop loving me."

A sob tore from your chest. "I can't."

His breath caught. For a second, just a second, his fingers twitched as if he wanted to reach for you, as if he wanted to collapse in your arms. But then he pulled back, shaking his head, water dripping from his lashes. You had never seen him like that, so torn apart.

“This has to end,” he murmured, barely above a whisper.

The rain continued to fall, but you barely felt it. The cold in your chest was heavy, as if your heart was made of ice. Nothing mattered, not now that you felt it. Your love was slowly fading away.

“It just did,” you whispered, voice breaking. “It is over. We are over.”

Mattheo’s breath caught. His body tensed. He hadn’t expected you to say it, hadn’t expected you to let him go first.

You turned, each step away from him heavier than the last. The rain fell harder, but nothing compared to the storm inside your chest.