HAUNTED || chris sturniolo

𝟎𝟏𝟔. don't give up on me

CHAPTER 016 -
╰┈➤ ' don't give up on me ' ♡₊˚ 🦢・₊✧
「 real life 」

─ real life ᰔᩚ

THE HALLWAYS BUZZED WITH THE USUAL CHAOS, lockers slamming shut, bursts of laughter, teachers calling out last-minute reminders. but for adriana, the world moved in a muted blur. the only sound she could truly hear was the quiet ache in her chest, the one she'd been carrying for a year now.

a week. it had only been a week since the anniversary, the one that marked three years since they started and one year since it all ended. she thought she'd made it past the worst of it. she had endured the day without letting herself crumble. she hadn't checked her phone for messages that would never come, and she hadn't allowed herself to think too long about what could've been.

but then she saw him.

chris stood by the lockers, leaning against the cool metal like he belonged there, but there was nothing relaxed in the way his shoulders hunched or the way his eyes searched for her. he looked wrecked. his hair was disheveled, his eyes dark and heavy, as though he hadn't slept in days. maybe he hadn't.

her stomach twisted painfully, but she forced her feet to keep moving. she didn't owe him anything anymore.

"adriana." his voice was quiet, but it cut through the noise, sharp and aching. she froze, hating how her heart still reacted to the sound of her name in his mouth.

she turned slowly, her face carefully blank. "what do you want, chris?"

he pushed off the lockers, stepping into her path. "can we talk?"

there it was, the same question he'd asked before, the one that always ended with her picking up the pieces. her throat tightened, but she lifted her chin, keeping her voice steady. "what's there to talk about? you said everything you needed to say a year ago."

his mouth opened like he wanted to argue, but then he closed it, shaking his head. "i know, but, please, adriana. just give me a minute."

she should've walked away. she knew better than to let him do this, to let him open wounds that had barely started to heal. but something in his voice stopped her. the same something that always did.

she folded her arms, her heart hammering. "a minute for what? to tell me again that i wasn't enough?"

chris flinched like she'd slapped him, his face crumpling in pain. "i never said that."

"no," she said bitterly, "you didn't have to." her voice wavered, but she refused to let it break. "i can't do this again."

"i thought i was doing the right thing," he said, his voice cracking. "i thought i was protecting you... from me."

her breath caught. "protecting me?" she echoed, disbelief lacing her tone. "do you have any idea what you actually did to me? you didn't protect me, chris. you hurt me."

"i know," he whispered, his eyes pleading. "i know, adriana. and i'm sorry. i never wanted to hurt you."

the anger she had tried so hard to bury bubbled to the surface, hot and sharp. "then why did you?" she demanded. "why did you leave? why did you decide for both of us that we were done?"

chris looked down at the floor like it held all the answers. "because i was scared," he admitted, voice trembling. "i didn't know how to hold on to you without feeling like i was dragging you down."

she stared at him, her chest aching. "you didn't give me a choice. you never gave me the chance to decide if you were worth it. you just... left."

he stepped closer, his voice desperate. "i'm here now. i want to fix this. please, adriana."

tears burned at the back of her eyes, and she fought to keep them from falling. "fix what? you can't fix this. you can't just come back and expect me to forget how you made me feel."

"i'm not asking you to forget," he said, his voice breaking. "i just, i need you to know that i've loved you this whole time."

the words hung between them, and she saw the way his lips trembled, the way his hands clenched like he was trying to force himself to say it.

"say it, then," she whispered, her voice shaking. "if you love me, say it."

he swallowed hard, his chest rising and falling, but no sound came out. his mouth opened, his lips forming the words, but they refused to leave his throat.

she waited, her heart shattering all over again as the silence stretched on. he couldn't say it. he couldn't give her what she needed, what she deserved.

"you still can't say it," she whispered, her voice cracking. "even now."

chris's eyes filled with tears, and he shook his head helplessly. "adriana, i—"

"stop," she said, stepping back. "you don't have to. i understand now." she wiped at her eyes, the tears spilling over despite her best efforts. "you'll never be able to love me the way i need you to."

he took a step forward, panic flashing in his eyes. "please, don't do this. don't give up on me."

"i already did," she whispered. "you gave up first."

the finality of her words seemed to crush him, his shoulders sagging as if the weight of it all had finally pressed him into the ground.

"i'm done waiting," she said softly, the tears streaming freely now. "i'm done hoping you'll change."

he watched her, his eyes filled with unspeakable pain, and for a moment, she thought he might collapse under the weight of it. but she couldn't stay. she couldn't keep standing in the ruins of what they used to be, waiting for him to find the courage to love her properly.

so she turned and walked away, her heart breaking with every step. he didn't call after her. he didn't follow. and for the first time, she realized she was truly letting him go.

evie speaks
the slow burn is slow burning...