Page 136 of When the Storm Breaks
I don’t even know if I’m asking him to change—or just tohearme.
“You’ve built these walls so damn high no one can get through them. Not even me. You shut me out, and you’re gonna keep doing it anyway. You’ll just keepleaving.”
His breath shudders out, but his gaze stays fixed on the window.
“I’m not doing that,” he whispers. “I’m not.”
“Yes, you are.” My voice is quieter now, but just as certain. “You’re doing it right now. I thought you cared. I thought this meant something to you. But it’s always the same. People leave. I’m too broken for anyone to stay.”
The words sting—because somewhere, deep down, I believe them.
His voice is hoarse. “You’re not broken.” His fingers twitch, like he wants to reach for me but doesn’t know if he should.
“You’re everything to me, Calla.Everything.” His voice shakes. “But fuck, you make me feel it all, and it’s like I don’t even know how to breathe anymore. I don’t know how to do this.”
The words hit like a sucker punch.
I want to tell him that it’s not enough. That it doesn’t fix anything.
“I loved you, Haiyden.” My voice breaks. “I loved you with everything I had. And you walked away like I was nothing.”
His eyes snap to mine, desperate and wrecked. He swallows hard, throat working like he’s trying to hold himself together.
“I do love you, Calla. I swear to you, I do.”
It’s not enough.
A bitter laugh scrapes up my throat. “Funny way of showing it.”
His hands drop to his sides, and he leans back against the seat, eyes falling shut like the weight of what he’s about to say is too much to carry.
“I’m scared,” he admits. “I don’t know how to love you without breaking you.”
“You’re not going to break me.” My voice is steady, even as myheart trembles.
Haiyden looks at me then—reallylooks—like I’ve just shattered his last piece of armor.
“But I already am,” he murmurs, regret bleeding through every syllable. “I’m not the person you think I am. I don’t deserve you. I’m going to hurt you again, and I don’t know how to make it stop.”
“That’s not your decision,” I say quietly.
He studies me for a long moment, something unreadable passing through his expression.
“Isn’t it?”
I shake my head, my throat tightening. “You just keep proving me right, Haiyden.”
His eyes search mine, like he’s looking for something that isn’t there anymore.Love, probably.
“I’m trying, Calla,” he says—like he’s only just convincing himself.
I exhale, slow and tired. “For how long?”
And that’s it.
That’s the fight. That’s what we’ve been arguing about this whole time. We’ve been going in circles, but it all comes back to the same thing.
I stare straight ahead. “You’re going to leave. We both know it.”
