Page 204 of Stolen Bruises

I hugged the box against my chest, as if holding it close would make it hurt less, but it didn’t. It just made the ache sharper.

I bit my lip, trying to muffle the sound, but it escaped anyway, a broken sob that cracked through the silence of the hallway.

My shoulders shook. My knees felt weak.

I wanted to knock again. To ask why.

To ask if it was me, or something I did, or if the friendship I thought we built was just another cruel, temporary thing.

But I didn’t.

Because when someone looks at you like that, like you’re a mistake they regret, you don’t beg for reasons. You just break quietly and walk away before they hear it.

So I stood there for a long time, crying softly into the ribbon and the cardboard, until the weight in my chest felt unbearable.

And when I finally turned to leave, the only thing I could think about was how stupid it was, how I should’ve known better.

Maybe people like him don’t stay soft.

Not for girls like me…

And girls like me… should stop expecting them to.

—

Joshua

The second the door shut, the sound felt like a gunshot.

My back hit the wood, and I slid down until I was sitting on the floor, the echo of her voice still playing in my head.

Happy Valenti—

Cut off.

Because ofme.

I pressed the heel of my palm against my eyes, breathing hard.

“Fuck…” I muttered under my breath.

What the hell did I just do?

My fingers threaded through my hair, pulling until it hurt, until the sting distracted me from the ache in my chest.

I could still see her face. That tiny, soft smile she’d given me right before I broke her again. The way she held that box like it meant something. LikeImeant something.

And I crushed it all with one sentence.

My throat tightened, my body shaking against the door. I wanted to run after her, to grab her wrist and take it back, to tell her it wasn’t her, it was me, it was them, it was everything.

That I didn’t mean it. That I never mean it when it comes to her. But I didn’t move. I stayed there, useless, cowardly.

Tiny footsteps padded against the floor, and I looked down.

Honey.

The little thing crept toward me, tail low, ears twitching, eyes round with worry. It hesitated for a second before curling up right against my leg, pressing its head against my foot like it could calm me down.