Chapter 5: The Weight of Almost
Rain painted the city in silver that night. Not the kind that raged and roared, but the quiet kind the kind that softened edges and made everything feel like a dream you weren't ready to wake up from. The kind of rain that whispered secrets against windowpanes and dared you to feel something.
Marissa stood under the golden glow of a streetlamp, umbrella forgotten at her side, letting the rain kiss her skin like a benediction. She didn't flinch. She didn't move. She just... stood there.
There were some moments in life that felt too heavy for words. This was one of them.
Everything inside her was at war. The past, with all its wounds and wildness, clawed at the surface. The present, wrapped in Mason's quiet words and unwavering presence, pulled at her like gravity. And in between them both was a girl who didn't know who she was anymore.
Behind her, the soft purr of an engine broke the silence. She didn't need to turn to know it was him.
Mason's voice was soft but sure. "You're gonna catch a cold, standing out here like that."
"I like the rain," she murmured, eyes still fixed on the city lights in the distance. "It makes everything honest."
He stepped beside her, his own hair damp from the walk over. "You always did say that. Back then."
Back then.
Two words that held lifetimes.
She glanced at him, and for a second—just a second—her defenses dropped. "Why did you leave me, Mason?"
There it was.
The question that had haunted every sleepless night. The wound she had dressed in sarcasm and strength, pretending it had healed when really, it had just learned to bleed in silence.
Mason looked away, jaw tight. The rain danced on his lashes, but his eyes... his eyes were a storm she wasn't sure she was ready to weather.
"I didn't think I was enough," he said finally. "And I didn't want to stay and prove myself right."
Marissa blinked. That wasn't the answer she'd expected. It wasn't anger or excuses. it was broken honesty, the kind that didn't try to fix itself.
"You were my everything," she whispered, her voice barely more than the breeze between them. "And you walked away like I was nothing."
His breath hitched, but he didn't deny it. "And I've regretted it every day since."
The rain grew heavier, but neither of them moved. They stood there, two hearts still beating for each other, even if they didn't know how to say it out loud.
He reached out, slowly, giving her the chance to pull away. When she didn't, his fingers found hers—cold and trembling. The touch was simple. Honest. Almost reverent.
"I can't rewrite the past," Mason said. "But I'm here now. And I'll keep showing up, Marissa. Every day. Every storm. Until you believe me."
Tears slipped down her cheeks, mixing with the rain. She didn't speak. She didn't have to. Because in that moment, everything between them was real again.
The pain.The love.The almosts.The maybes.
And the ache of wanting what could still be.
He stepped closer, his hand brushing a damp strand of hair from her face. "I'll wait for you," he said, voice low. "As long as it takes."
She leaned into his touch, just a little. Just enough to say she wasn't ready to run anymore. Not from him. Not from the way he still made her feel like she was the only girl in a world full of noise.
And when she finally looked up at him, eyes shining, she whispered the one thing she hadn't let herself feel in years.
"I wanted you to fight for me."
"I'm fighting now."
And somehow, that was enough.
For now.