Page 181 of A Solid Guide to Surviving a Situationship

This was really the end.

The city continued around us, but everything between Victor and me felt suspended outside of time. It stopped—like my heart the moment I knew we could never be.

My chest hurt so badly it almost felt impossible to breathe through it.

Then slowly, I stepped closer.

Victor looked up at me immediately, tears still caught along his lashes.

And before I could stop myself, I lifted my hand and touched his face gently… one last time.

The moment my palm rested against his cheek, Victor broke.

A soft, wounded sound escaped him as his eyes shut tightly.

Then his hand came up instinctively, holding mine like he was afraid I would disappear if he let go.

And God, that almost destroyed me.

I could feel the warmth of his tears against my skin.

And suddenly, all I could think about were the versions of us that almost made it.

We could have been something beautiful.

Almost.

But ‘almost’ could only hold so much weight before it collapses into ‘goodbye.’

Victor swallowed shakily before speaking. “Why does it feel like I’m losing you again?”

The question shattered me.

I looked at him for a long moment, tears slipping quietly down my face.

Then I whispered, “Because you will never know how to hold me.”

My voice trembled beneath the weight of everything I still felt for him.

Victor broke at that. And somehow, seeing him this way almost made me stay.

Almost.

“I love you, my almost,” I said softly.

For months, I thought loving him was the bravest thing I had ever done.

I was wrong.

Leaving was.

Slowly, I pulled my hand away from his face.

Victor looked at me like he wanted to say something.

But he didn’t.

He chose to keep his words and lose me instead of saying them to keep me.