Lana's POV
I didn't cry.
Not when I said it.
Not when he looked at me like that.
Not even when I walked away.
But the next morning…
Everything felt heavier.
The room.
The air.
My heart.
I stared at my suitcase, sitting open on the bed.
Half-packed.
Like me.
Half sure.
Half broken.
I picked up my clothes slowly, folding them without really seeing them.
Every corner of this room held something—
A memory.
A laugh.
A moment I didn't want to remember anymore.
"Lana."
His voice stopped me.
I froze.
I didn't turn around.
"Don't do this," Leo said, quieter than I'd ever heard him.
My fingers tightened around the fabric in my hands.
"I'm not running away," I replied softly.
"I'm choosing myself."
Silence.
Then footsteps.
He was closer now.
Too close.
"If this is about last night—"
"It's not just last night," I cut him off.
Finally, I turned.
And the look on his face…
It almost broke me.
He looked tired.
Not physically.
Emotionally.
Like he hadn't slept.
Like he'd been fighting something all night.
"Then what is it?" he asked.
I took a breath.
"It's everything."
"The secrets."
"The distance."
"The feeling that I'm always one step behind in your life."
Each word felt like it weighed more than the last.
"I can't keep loving someone who won't let me in."
His expression tightened.
"I do let you in."
"No," I shook my head.
"You let me in… halfway."
That hit him.
I saw it.
"I told you I'm trying," he said.
"And I'm tired of waiting," I replied.
Silence again.
But this time—
It wasn't fragile.
It was breaking.
He ran a hand through his hair, frustration finally slipping through.
"So what? You're just leaving?"
I swallowed hard.
"Yes."
The word felt like glass.
"For how long?" he asked.
I hesitated.
And that hesitation said everything.
"I don't know."
That was it.
That was the moment something in him snapped.
He let out a sharp breath, stepping back like I'd just hit him.
"Of course," he muttered.
"Run when things get hard."
Anger flared in my chest.
"I'm not running!"
"Then what do you call this?" he gestured at the suitcase.
"I call it protecting myself!"
"From me?" he asked.
His voice wasn't loud.
But it cut deeper than shouting.
I didn't answer.
Because I didn't know how to.
He laughed softly—but it wasn't happy.
"Unbelievable," he said.
Then quieter—
"I trusted you to stay."
That hurt.
More than anything.
"I did stay," I whispered.
"I stayed through the confusion… through the silence… through everything you didn't tell me."
My voice cracked for the first time.
"But I can't stay where I feel alone."
That was it.
No more words.
No more arguments.
Just truth.
I picked up my suitcase.
Walked past him.
Step by step.
Each one heavier than the last.
"Lana."
I stopped.
But I didn't turn.
"Don't go," he said.
And for the first time…
Leo sounded unsure.
My eyes burned.
My chest ached.
My heart screamed at me to stay.
But my mind—
My broken, tired mind—
chose something else.
"I have to."
And then…
I walked out.