Eleena stood at the edge of the park, the cold breeze brushing through her coat as she watched Jace pace near the fountain. He hadn't noticed her yet. His hands were buried deep in his jacket pockets, his shoulders slightly hunched, like the world was pressing down on him.
She walked toward him slowly, her boots crunching against the gravel path.
He looked up.
"Hey," he said softly.
"Hey," she replied.
They didn't hug. Didn't kiss. Just stood there for a moment, two hearts hesitant, two minds full of questions neither quite knew how to ask.
"Thanks for meeting me," Jace said, eyes downcast.
"You said you wanted to talk."
He nodded, and then — as if a dam inside him finally broke — he spoke.
"I think I've spent most of my life pretending I'm okay," he began, voice tight. "I was thirteen when my dad left. One day he was there, telling me how proud he was, and the next he was gone. No note. No reason. Just disappeared."
Eleena's breath hitched, but she said nothing. Let him keep going.
"My mom fell apart. And I… I stepped in. Took care of her. Took care of everything. I never cried. Never asked why. I just… handled it. That's what I've always done — bury it and keep moving."
He looked up at her then, eyes glassy.
"And then I met you."
Her heart beat louder.
"You saw right through me," he said. "You saw the parts of me I didn't even know were broken. And instead of running, you loved me harder. That scared the hell out of me, Eleena."
Tears pricked her eyes. "So you pushed me away."
"I didn't know how to be vulnerable," he said. "Not really. Not when it counted. I thought if I let you see how much I was struggling — with the business, with myself — you'd leave."
"I would've stayed," she whispered.
"I know," he said, stepping closer. "That's the part that hurts the most."
Silence settled between them, but it wasn't heavy this time. It was the kind of silence that lets truth breathe.
"I'm not asking you to forget the pain I caused," Jace said. "But I'm asking for a chance to make it right. Not with words — with actions. I've started therapy. I've told my mom I need boundaries. I've even applied for a second job to stabilize things."
Eleena blinked. "You did all that?"
"For me," he said. "But mostly… for you."
She looked at him — really looked — and for the first time in a long time, she saw a man who wasn't just sorry.
He was trying.
Not to win her back.
But to become someone worthy of her heart.
She stepped forward and took his hand.
"Then we start small," she said. "No promises. Just presence."
He nodded. "I'll take that. Every day."
They stood there, fingers intertwined, under the gray sky. Not healed. Not whole.
But finally… honest.
And sometimes, that was enough to begin again.