The words came out as a whisper. “But the closer I got, the worse it got. I couldn’t stop watching you. The way you moved, the way you stayed kind even when people didn’t deserve it.”
I ran a hand down my face, trembling. “It turned into something else. Something I don’t even want to name, because I don’t deserve to call it that. But I…”
I inhaled sharply. “I fucked up. So bad. Because by the time I realised I didn’t want to hurt you anymore…it was too late. I already did.”
I let the silence sit.
Let the words breathe between us.
She still didn’t say anything.
Didn’t have to.
The movie kept playing, its light flashing across both our faces, quiet, meaningless.
She grabbed her phone with her good hand, unplugged it from the power bank, and lifted it in front of her face. For a second, I thought she was scrolling. Or texting Jennie. Maybe even Miles. Doing anything but listening to me.
But then my phone lit up.
My Princess.
I froze.
Heart in my throat.
I opened it, and the longer I read, the more it burned.
My Princess: I’m sorry.
My Princess: I’m sorry for what happened to you.
My Princess: For losing your mum. I can’t imagine that pain, and I wish you didn’t have to live with it.
My Princess: But it doesn’t make it hurt less for me.
My fingers tightened around the phone.
My Princess: You should’ve talked to me. Not act like everyone else.
My Princess: You didn’t have to bite first. You didn’t have to push me before I could even get close.
My Princess: You don’t have to be Miles or Alex. You just had to be you. But not like this.
Each sentence hit harder than the last.
Not screamed, not angry, just true.
Too quiet to fight back against.
My Princess: If you hadn’t done that, I would’ve looked at you the same way I look at Miles.
My Princess: Maybe even more.
My Princess: You could’ve been my new beginning.
My chest ached.
My Princess: I had to move from my home because I lost my dad. My mum’s in another city. I’m alone, surrounded by memories of a perfect family that doesn’t exist anymore.
