Unresolved

"Are you still there?"

"I never left."

"You said you would."

"I said I might."

"You always say that."

"And you always hear promises where I only offer possibilities."

"That sounds like something you rehearsed."

"Everything sounds rehearsed if you’ve waited long enough."

"So you admit you knew this would happen."

"I admit I knew it could."

"There’s a difference?"

"Only when you’re standing on the wrong side of it."

"You could have told me."

"I did. Just not in the way you wanted."

"You mean the silence?"

"I mean the pauses. You filled them in yourself."

"I asked you directly."

"And I answered honestly."

"You said 'we’ll see.'"

"That was honest."

"It was evasive."

"It was cautious."

"It was cruel."

"Cruel would have been lying."

"You did lie."

"No. I delayed."

"That’s the same thing."

"Not if you believe time has weight."

"You always do this. You turn everything into theory."

"And you turn everything into a verdict."

"Because someone has to decide what actually happened."

"Do they?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because otherwise it just keeps happening."

"Maybe it keeps happening because you keep naming it."

"So this is my fault."

"I didn’t say that."

"You didn’t have to."

"I’m not assigning blame."

"You never do. That’s part of the problem."

"You want me to say I caused this."

"I want you to acknowledge it."

"I acknowledge that we wanted different things."

"When did that become true?"

"Probably before either of us said it out loud."

"I don’t believe that."

"You don’t have to."

"I need to."

"Why?"

"Because if it was always broken, then I didn’t miss anything."

"You didn’t miss nothing."

"Then what did I miss?"

"Timing."

"That’s convenient."

"It’s accurate."

"So we were right people, wrong moment."

"If you like that phrasing."

"You don’t?"

"It lets us off too easily."

"Off what?"

"Responsibility."

"You think wanting different things is a failure?"

"I think pretending we didn’t know is."

"I didn’t know."

"You suspected."

"I hoped."

"Hoping isn’t innocence."

"It’s not guilt either."

"Maybe it’s just risk."

"And I took it."

"So did I."

"Then why does it feel like I’m the only one paying for it?"

"Because you wanted permanence."

"And you didn’t."

"I wanted movement."

"That’s a nice word for leaving."

"It’s a necessary one."

"For you."

"For me, yes."

"And I was just supposed to adapt."

"I never asked you to."

"You didn’t have to."

"You always say that after."

"Because before, you acted like it was a choice."

"It was."

"Was it?"

"You could have said no."

"I did. Eventually."

"And that wasn’t enough."

"It was too late."

"Late according to who?"

"According to the part of me that stayed."

"You stayed longer than you should have."

"So did you."

"I stayed honestly."

"You stayed comfortably."

"That’s unfair."

"Is it?"

"I was clear about who I was."

"You were vague."

"I was consistent."

"Consistently unclear."

"You knew I wasn’t built for roots."

"I thought you might grow some."

"People don’t grow roots on command."

"Neither do they grow wings without consequences."

"I never promised to land."

"But you kept circling."

"Because I liked the view."

"And I mistook that for commitment."

"You mistook presence for intention."

"You let me."

"I didn’t stop you."

"That’s the same thing."

"No, it’s not."

"It is when someone’s waiting."

"I never asked you to wait."

"You knew I was."

"You chose to."

"I chose you."

"And I chose myself."

"There it is."

"You say that like it’s an accusation."

"It feels like abandonment."

"Those aren’t the same."

"They overlap."

"Only if you expect someone else to be the anchor."

"I didn’t expect."

"You hoped."

"Why is that always a flaw to you?"

"Because hope can be passive."

"So can distance."

"Distance is honest."

"Distance is safe."

"Exactly."

"And safety can still hurt."

"I never said it couldn’t."

"Then why do you sound so calm?"

"Because this isn’t new for me."

"So I was practice."

"You were real."

"Was I temporary?"

"You were finite."

"That’s worse."

"It’s human."

"I wanted a future."

"I wanted a direction."

"Together."

"Forward."

"Those aren’t the same."

"They were to me."

"And that’s where we diverged."

"You talk like this was inevitable."

"Not inevitable. Just unresolved."

"Until now."

"Until now."

"So what happens now?"

"Now we stop pretending there’s a misunderstanding."

"There isn’t?"

"There’s a difference in values."

"I value you."

"I value autonomy."

"You can have both."

"Not always."

"Why not?"

"Because sometimes one requires stillness."

"And you can’t do stillness."

"I can. I just don’t live there."

"And I can’t keep moving without knowing where I’m going."

"Then this is where we stop."

"Just like that."

"Not just like that."

"How then?"

"With honesty."

"This is honesty?"

"This is the part we avoided."

"You’re very composed for someone ending things."

"I’m not ending them."

"You’re leaving."

"I’m acknowledging that staying would be dishonest."

"And that makes it okay."

"It makes it necessary."

"I wish you had been less gentle."

"Gentleness wasn’t the problem."

"Then what was?"

"Expectation."

"Love comes with expectation."

"Love also comes with listening."

"I listened."

"You heard what you needed."

"And you said what you could afford."

"That’s a harsh way to put it."

"It’s accurate."

"So what do we do with this now?"

"We let it be complete."

"I don’t know how."

"You don’t have to right away."

"Will you miss me?"

"Yes."

"Will that change anything?"

"No."

"Then why does that hurt more?"

"Because it proves it mattered."

"I didn’t want it to just matter."

"I know."

"I wanted it to last."

"And I wanted it to be true."

"It was."

"It still is."

"Just not in the same direction."

"No."

"So this is goodbye."

"This is an ending."

"You’re careful with words even now."

"Some habits survive everything."

"Say it anyway."

"Say what?"

"Goodbye."

"Goodbye."