Andres' POV
The apartment felt different. Too quiet. Too still. Her laughter wasn't bouncing off the walls anymore. Her scent didn't linger on the couch like it used to. And my mornings, once filled with excitement, now started with an ache in my chest I couldn't shake.
I stood in the kitchen, staring blankly at the coffee mug she used to drink from. The one she said was too big for her hands but loved anyway. I hadn't washed it. Couldn't.
Every day felt like I was pretending. Smiling at customers, running my restaurant, talking to people like I was fine—when in reality, I was barely holding it together.
I missed her.
Everything about her.
Her sleepy voice in the morning. Her annoyed expressions when I'd joke too much. The way she'd steal bites off my plate even after saying she wasn't hungry.
I picked up my phone more times than I could count, just to stare at our pictures. She hadn't messaged. Not once. Maybe she was trying to move on. Maybe she thought I would too.
But how do you move on from someone who became your entire world in just one month?
Jas texted me sometimes—checking in, telling me how Jenn was doing. But nothing direct from her. That silence was killing me.
One evening, I drove to the lake where we once sat for hours, doing nothing and everything at the same time. I closed my eyes and let the breeze hit my face, pretending she was beside me, her head on my shoulder.
"I miss you, Kainaat," I whispered. "I miss us."
I reached into my coat pocket and pulled out the small velvet box I still carried.
Yes, I had bought the ring. Way before she even knew. I was going to ask her to stay, to build a life together.
But fate had other plans.
Still… I wasn't done. I wasn't letting this go.
I opened the box and stared at the ring.
"I'll wait for you," I said to no one but the stars. "Even if it takes forever."
Because love—real love—doesn't end with distance.
It just pauses… until the hearts find their way back.