Fragile

Chapter 6 - Let Go

I swallowed the lump in my throat. "I'm not asking you to sit around missing me, Ev."

She let out a tired laugh. "Then what are you asking me for?"

I hesitated, my grip tightening on the phone. I wanted to say everything. I wanted to tell her that I missed her. That I thought about her every damn day. That I wasn't ready to let go of whatever this was.

Instead, I swallowed and said, "I just want you to talk to me."

Evelyn sighed, and I could hear the exhaustion in it. "Leah..."

I ran a hand through my hair, forcing my voice to stay calm. "I'm not asking for forever. I'm just asking you not to shut me out."

A beat of silence. Then, finally, quietly— "I'm trying."

I closed my eyes, letting that sit between us, feeling how heavy it was. Maybe it wasn't what I wanted to hear. But at least it was honest. The silence between us was thick, stretching too long, too heavy. I could hear Evelyn's breathing through the phone, could feel the hesitation in it, the weight of something she wasn't saying.

"This has to stop."

The words hit like a gut punch. My grip on the phone tightened. "What?"

Evelyn exhaled sharply, like she had been holding it in for too long. "Leah, I need to focus on Riggs. On school. On work. I can't do this with you."

My stomach twisted, a sick feeling settling in my chest. "Evelyn—"

"No, please, just..." Her voice cracked slightly, and that hurt, more than I was ready for. "This was nice, Leah. You are nice. But this isn't real life. Real life is me waking up at five in the morning to study before my shift. Real life is making sure Riggs is okay. Real life is—" She stopped herself, inhaling sharply.

I tried to push past the lump in my throat. "Evelyn, I know it's hard, but we can—"

"No, Leah."

I flinched at how final it sounded. My chest felt tight, my mind scrambling for the right thing to say, anything to make her stay, to make her believe that we could figure it out. But before I could find the words—The line went dead.

I stared at my phone, my breath caught in my throat. She hung up. Just like that, she was gone.

The room suddenly felt colder, emptier, like the silence was pressing in from all sides. I exhaled, but it didn't steady me. My heart was still hammering, my mind still racing.

What the hell just happened?

I swallowed hard, staring blankly at the floor. I had known the distance was going to be hard. I had known that Evelyn had a lot on her plate. But I hadn't expected this. Hadn't expected her to cut me off so completely. I clenched my jaw, inhaling through my nose.

Fine.

If that's how she wanted it—if she was going to shut me out, if she was going to act like this didn't matter—then I could do the same. The walls I had let her slip past—walls I had let down for the first time in a long time—came slamming back up. I forced myself to stand, tossing my phone onto the table like it wasn't still buzzing with unanswered questions. Like my chest wasn't aching.

I had let myself hope. That was my mistake.

~ ~ ~

The cold air bit at my skin as I stepped onto the training pitch, the low winter sun barely warming the frost-covered grass. My breath came out in short puffs, disappearing into the crisp London air as I jogged onto the field with the rest of the team.