“Whether you show up. Whether you try. Whether you let yourself love again, even knowing it might hurt.” Kim’s voice gentled. “Whether you choose living over surviving.”
Maggie wiped her eyes, the tissue shredding in her hands. “I’m terrified.”
“I know. That means you’re alive.”
They sat in silence for a while, the only sound the quiet hum of the white noise machine by the door.
“What do I do?” Maggie asked finally. “How do I fix this?”
“You don’t fix it,” Kim said. “You can’t. But you can be honest. With yourself first, then with her. You can stop trying to control the outcome and just... show up. Messy. Imperfect. Real.”
“What if I lose everything?”
“What if you already have?”
The question hung in the air.
After therapy, Maggie drove aimlessly for an hour before ending up at a coffee shop in Silver Lake she’d never been to before.
She ordered an oat milk latte she didn’t want and sat by the window, watching people pass. Couples holding hands. A woman laughing into her phone. A man with a dog, both of them content in their routine. Just life.
Normal people living normal lives without the weight of impossible choices crushing them.
Her phone buzzed.
This time it was who she’d been hoping for.
Evie:Still there?
Maggie’s heart stuttered. She typed quickly.
I’m here. Always.
Three dots appeared. Disappeared. Reappeared.
Evie:That’s not true. You left. Oh, and pushed me away. A little skeptical right now about you…
Maggie closed her eyes, the accusation landing exactly where it should.
Maggie:I know. I’m sorry. Genuinely.
Evie:I don’t need sorry. I need to know if you’re done running.
Maggie stared at the message. This was it. The moment where she could deflect, protect herself, keep the walls up. Evie still wasn’t giving up on her.
Maggie:I don’t know how to stop. But I want to try.
Long pause.
Evie:Why now?
Maggie:Because I’ve been reading Sarah’s journals. Because I saw a therapist today. Because I’m tired of surviving when I could be living. Because you were right about everything. And I’m a fucking idiot who pushing away something so good for me.
Another pause.
Evie:I’m still angry. Like really angry.
Maggie:You should be.
