Closure isn't always about saying goodbye.
Sometimes, it's about facing what was left unsaid.
One afternoon, as Akutu walked across campus, she spotted a familiar figure near the library.
Nathan.
She hadn't seen him in months, not since everything fell apart between them.
For a while, she had convinced herself that she had moved on, that he was just another chapter in her past.
But as she watched him laugh with a group of friends, something inside her shifted.
There were still loose ends.
And if she was truly moving forward, she had to tie them up.
That evening, she sent him a message.
Akutu: Hey. Can we talk?
She didn't expect an immediate response.
But a few minutes later, her phone buzzed.
Nathan: Sure. Meet me by the fountain?
As she approached the fountain, she found him already waiting.
"Didn't think I'd hear from you again," Nathan said, stuffing his hands into his pockets.
Akutu exhaled. "I didn't think I'd reach out either."
A beat of silence.
Then, she said what had been sitting on her heart for too long.
"I don't hate you, Nathan."
His expression softened. "I never wanted you to."
"I just... I needed time," she admitted. "To figure things out, to understand what I really wanted."
"And now?" he asked.
Akutu looked at him—not with longing, not with regret, but with clarity.
"Now, I realize that what we had was real," she said. "But it's not something I want to go back to."
Nathan nodded, his gaze steady. "I get it."
And just like that, the weight lifted.
No bitterness. No resentment.
Just understanding.
As she walked away that night, she felt lighter.
Some stories didn't need a dramatic ending.
Sometimes, all they needed was peace.
The pulleys of life had shifted once again.