Heart For Ransom

5 YEARS AGO

TALLULAH

“I don’t think I can love you,” he whispered. The words sliced through the quiet room.

I almost thought it was my imagination until I looked over my shoulder. His eyes held a lingering sadness, his cheeks flushed, and jaw clenched so tight it looked like it might shatter.

I turned off the stove and slowly faced him, trying to process what I’d just heard.

“What do you mean” My voice shook with disbelief. “What’s wrong, Reed?”

He shook his head and set down his bags - bags I hadn’t even noticed him carrying. My chest tightened with confusion. I thought we’d worked through everything, yet here he was, dropping a bomb I didn’t see coming.

“I can’t love you the way you need me to love you, Lul. I tried.”

I wait for there to be more. There had to be more.

But after a beat passes that was all that he could say. He “tried.” The word hit me like a slap — slow and deliberate, lingering in the air. Fury started to crawl through me, the kind I thought therapy had buried years ago.

It was this bastard’s fault that we even had issues, to begin with.

“Who is she?” I demanded.

I could feel the anger and resentment swirling in my chest as he exhaled sharply and looked away.

I knew it! I had let him pull me in again, like a fucking idiot. A bitter sneer rose upon my face - he could feel the heat of my glare.

“Again. You promised me, Reed!” I shouted, shattering the last piece of hope I had clung to for the last four years.

“I-I know,” he said slowly, finally meeting my eyes.

“You know? That’s it? That’s all you have to say?” I could feel tears running down my face, anger mixing with heartbreak.

“I’ve put everything into this — six years! You came back into my life, promised you’d never hurt me again… and yet, here we are. I quit my job, moved out o the city for you, left friends and family behind to give us another chance. I gave you all I had!” My fists clenched at my sides, shaking with fury.

He stepped closer, his presence overwhelming, and held my face gently, as a tear ran down his own cheek.

This man had to be delusional. He had to realize these were tears of pure anger. I was holding myself back from throwing him across the room or worse.

"Tallulah… you knew this wouldn’t work. I want it to be you so badly, but it’s not. We’ve tried everything, and I do not regret there being an us for a single moment. I never meant to hurt you.

His voice was steady, but heavy with emotion that forced him to pause. I could see the weight in his eyes.

“You have to know I love you!”

“If you loved me, you would have never come back into my life and asked me to take you back,” I whispered bitterly, shoving him away. “I was happy before all of this, and look at me now, Reed. How... how dare you say you never meant to hurt me.”

I pushed him toward the door. My mascara ran, blurring my vision.

"I have nothing left to say to you, nothing left to give you. I hope you're happy Reed,

you’ve broken me.”

He grabbed his bags and paused at the door. His hand hovered over the knob.

“Lulu… you might think I did this to hurt you,” he said softly. “But we’re like oil and water. We’ve been forcing something that wasn’t meant to be — trying to light a match in the rain. I’m sorry.”

By the time the door closed behind him, my legs gave out. I slid to the floor, breath shallow, heart aching like I’d run for miles.