“Now I’m here.” I force myself to hold his gaze. “Because I felt her again. Because all I can do isfeelher. When she…” I stop. Breathe. “When she needed me.”
“And if she doesn’t need you?” Malrik asks. “If she chooses someone else? If she never forgives you for what you did?”
The question settles like a weight in my chest.
“I’m still here,” I say quietly. “Not because I think I deserve her. Not because I think she owes me anything. But because leaving her again would kill me.”
Malrik studies me for a long moment.
“She doesn’t trust easily. You already know that. She’s been abandoned, controlled, and manipulated by people who were supposed to protect her.”
He pauses. Holds my gaze.
“You were one of them.”
I flinch.
He doesn’t soften it. “But she let you back in. That means something. Don’t waste it by drowning in guilt.”
I try to breathe. It comes out unsteady.
“I don’t know how to be around her without—” I stop. Can’t finish.
“Without what?” Malrik asks.
“Without feeling like I’m… taking something I don’t deserve.”
Malrik’s voice is calm. Precise. “You’re not taking anything. She’s offering it. Learn the difference.”
I want to argue. Want to tell him he’s wrong.
But the words won’t come.
“How do I make this right?” I ask quietly.
Malrik doesn’t answer immediately. Lets the question sit between us.
“You can’t undo what happened. That’s not what she needs.”
My chest tightens. “Then what does she need?”
He considers me carefully. “Consistency. Presence. Proof that you’re choosing to stay—not because you owe her, but because you want to.”
I nod knowing he’s right.
Malrik straightens. His tone shifts—tactical, strategic.
“She needs you to be steady. Not perfect. Steady.”
I force myself to meet his eyes.
“She needs you to show up without apology or self-flagellation,” he continues. “She needs you to stop treating yourself like the enemy—because if you do, she will too.”
His eyes narrow.
“And for fuck’s sake, stop looking at her like you’re waiting for permission to exist near her.”
The words settle like stones in my chest.
