~~~~♤~~~~~
After that night… everything felt unstable.
Even when nothing was happening.
Even in silence.
---
Adrian started avoiding me again.
Not completely.
But enough for me to notice.
Enough for it to hurt.
---
When I asked him why, he didn't give a clear answer.
He just said:
"You make it harder to control."
---
And then he disappeared before I could respond.
---
I told myself I should be relieved.
That this was better.
Safer.
Normal again.
---
But it didn't feel normal.
It felt empty.
---
Even Tunde noticed the difference.
"You've been thinking about that guy again," he said one afternoon.
---
I frowned slightly.
"I don't think about him that much."
---
Tunde gave me a look.
The kind that already knows the truth before you speak it.
---
"You like him," he said simply.
---
That made me stop walking.
---
"I don't," I replied quickly.
Too quickly.
---
He sighed.
"You don't have to lie to me."
---
That sentence stayed with me longer than I wanted it to.
---
Because the worst part?
He was right.
---
That night, I went out again.
Not because I planned to.
But because I couldn't sit still anymore.
---
And like always…
he was there.
---
But this time, he didn't step forward.
Didn't speak immediately.
Just watched me.
From a distance.
---
"You shouldn't keep doing this," Adrian said finally.
---
I laughed softly.
"Coming outside?"
---
"No," he replied.
"Coming to me."
---
That hit differently.
---
I crossed my arms.
"Then stop showing up."
---
A long silence.
---
Then he finally spoke again.
His voice lower than usual.
Strained.
---
"I can't."
---
That one sentence changed the air.
---
I stepped closer.
Slowly.
Carefully.
---
"Why not?" I asked.
---
He looked at me then.
Really looked.
Like the answer was sitting right in front of him… and it scared him.
---
"Because I tried," he said quietly.
"And every time I stay away…"
He paused.
---
"…it gets worse."
---
My chest tightened.
"Worse how?"
---
His jaw clenched slightly.
"Worse for you."
---
Silence again.
Thicker this time.
---
"You're acting like I'm fragile," I said.
---
"You are," he replied instantly.
Then softer—
"And I don't trust myself around you."
---
That made my heart drop slightly.
---
"So what happens now?" I asked.
---
He didn't answer immediately.
But when he did…
his voice had changed completely.
More serious.
More final.
---
"Now I stop pretending this isn't dangerous."
---
A pause.
---
"And you decide if you still want to stand here when it stops being safe."
---
I should have left.
That would have been the smart thing.
The safe thing.
---
But I didn't move.
---
And that silence between us…
felt like the beginning of something neither of us could control anymore.