Never Truly Over Novels & Stories

he said. "I know," I said. "He didn't get there by accident," he said. "No," I said. He looked at me. "Neither did we," he said. I looked at him. At the man who had just said *neither did we.* At the specific truth of it. Not accident. Not arrangement. Not contract. The geological patience of conditions becoming correct. The fault line settled. The ground solid. The real thing survived. "No," I said. "Neither did we."

Not negotiation. A declaration. “We are what you left unfinished.” And in that moment… I realized the truth. This wasn’t the beginning of a fight. It was the ending of one that never truly stopped.

"Then why stay with someone you don’t truly love?" "Because I don’t want to hurt her." "You can’t sail two boats at once. You still have to choose." "I’m really confused right now, Uncle." "But how are you even going to find Samantha? She’s already far away. She went back to her province." "Destiny will find a way, Uncle." "Let me ask you something. What if all three of you lived under one roof? And you couldn’t resist your feelings because you kept seeing each other. What would you do?"

Laya’s chest tightened again. The next message appeared. “I don’t know the whole story. But honestly, a lot of people think you two are really over.” Laya stared at the screen without blinking. Over. The word felt much more real when it came from someone else. Their relationship was no longer something broken only between two people. Too many people knew. Too many opinions existed. Too many assumptions had been made. Too many words had been said that could never be taken back. Laya slowly typed. “Thank you for telling me.”

Not finished. Not even close.

I hissed out. "No. That's not it. But I am done playing." "The game isn't over yet. It will be over when I say it is over." -----

Aileen's POV I was the one who made the decision to break up with him and leave him for what he has done to me but then today, I just proved to myself that I haven't moved on at all, he was still able to move my emotions. I tell myself that I've moved on and I don't need him anymore, he was a cheater and I deserved more than him, I was way too worthy and all but turns out all of those thoughts were delusional, I haven't moved on and I have not gotten over him.

Leif said nothing further. Just as Raina thought he would say no more, a deep voice suddenly sounded near her ear. He sincerely said, “Maybe others change, but I never will. If I believe in someone, I will always believe, forever and ever. Neither pain nor death will change that.” Forever and ever, huh. But after all she had been through, Raina understood one thing clearly: there is no forever in this world. Forever simply does not exist. No one can truly achieve it, because people change whenever they want. She no longer believed. ***

I say strongly but I instantly wonder if I even believe what I’m telling her. “Why are you here, then, Kyle? What are you here to offer me? Friendship? A relationship that will end up going nowhere because neither of us is willing to leave our home packs? A summer romance because that’s all the time you’re going to spend here? I’m not ready for that kind of hurt, Kyle. I’m not. I had tons of other things to worry about and adding the countdown to this relationship isn’t one of them. You can stand here all you want but you can’t promise me that you’ll be the way mates are supposed to be with each other. You can’t promise me forever, not that I want it right now anyway. You just want some ente

Maybe. Just maybe... Starting over here wouldn't be impossible after all.