Chapter 6 – Reflections
The silence between Marcus and Elena stretched into its fourth day.
Marcus sat alone in his apartment, the rain outside mirroring his mood. He glanced at his phone more times than he wanted to admit. No new messages. No missed calls. The apartment felt too quiet—too still without her presence.
He tried reading, sketching, even watching old movies they used to joke about. Nothing filled the ache. Eventually, he stopped resisting it and sat in the quiet, letting the questions surface.
Had he been unfair?
Yes, she'd missed a few dinners. Yes, her work consumed her lately. But wasn't that something he once admired? Her drive? Her independence?
He realized then—love wasn't always convenience. It was patience. Compromise. Showing up even when things weren't easy.
Elena, meanwhile, stood in the middle of the gallery as the team made final adjustments to the lighting. She should've felt proud. It was everything she'd worked toward for months. But she couldn't stop thinking about Marcus—his eyes when she disappointed him, the silence in his voice.
Later that night, she went home, took off her shoes, and sat on the floor with a glass of wine and one of his old texts open on her phone:
*"I like how we don't have to talk all the time to know we're okay."*
But they weren't okay now.
And they hadn't talked.
She took a breath and called him.
He answered on the first ring.
"I miss you," she said.
He closed his eyes. "I miss you too."
There was a pause—long, but not heavy.
"I'm sorry," she added. "For shutting you out. I didn't mean to."
"I'm sorry too," he said. "For making you feel like you had to choose."
She smiled softly through the phone. "Can I come over?"
"You never have to ask."
That night, there were no grand speeches. No dramatic apologies. Just two people, holding each other in the quiet.
And sometimes, that's how love heals.
Not with fireworks.
But with stillness, and sincerity.