“The Message I Never Sent” by Shailu at Inkitt

Summary

**The Message I Never Sent** I wrote the message a hundred times, and deleted it a thousand more. “Hey… I miss you.” Too simple. “I’ve been thinking about you lately.” Too vague. “I’m sorry for everything.” Too late. The truth was, none of the words felt right. Because no sentence could carry the weight of everything I never said when it mattered. It had been 8 months, 17 days, and a few hours since we last spoke. Not that I was counting anymore. Okay, maybe I was. I still remembered that night clearly. The silence between us wasn’t loud—it was heavy. Like something breaking without making a sound. “You could’ve stayed,” you said. “I didn’t know how,” I replied. And that was it. No dramatic goodbye. No tears. Just two people standing on opposite sides of something neither of them knew how to fix. I told myself I’d text you the next day. I didn’t. Then the next week. Still nothing. And slowly, days turned into months. The message stayed in my notes—unfinished, unsent, but never forgotten. Tonight, for some reason, everything came rushing back. Maybe it was the rain. Or the song we used to listen to on repeat. Or maybe it was just one of those nights where memories don’t ask for permission. I opened our chat again. Your name was still there. So was the last message you sent: “Take care.” I stared at it longer than I should have. Then......Next episode.

Genre: Young Adult

Author: Shailu

Status: Complete

Chapters: 1

Rating: n/a

Age Rating: 16+

Chapter 1

The Message I Never Sent

I wrote the message a hundred times, and deleted it a thousand more.“Hey… I miss you.”Too simple.“I’ve been thinking about you lately.”Too vague.“I’m sorry for everything.”Too late.The truth was, none of the words felt right. Because no sentence could carry the weight of everything I never said when it mattered.It had been 8 months, 17 days, and a few hours since we last spoke. Not that I was counting anymore.Okay, maybe I was.I still remembered that night clearly. The silence between us wasn’t loud—it was heavy. Like something breaking without making a sound.“You could’ve stayed,” you said.“I didn’t know how,” I replied.And that was it. No dramatic goodbye. No tears. Just two people standing on opposite sides of something neither of them knew how to fix.I told myself I’d text you the next day.I didn’t.Then the next week.Still nothing.And slowly, days turned into months. The message stayed in my notes—unfinished, unsent, but never forgotten.Tonight, for some reason, everything came rushing back.Maybe it was the rain. Or the song we used to listen to on repeat. Or maybe it was just one of those nights where memories don’t ask for permission.I opened our chat again.Your name was still there.So was the last message you sent:“Take care.”I stared at it longer than I should have.Then, for the first time in months, I started typing.“Hey… I know this is random. But I just wanted to say I’m sorry. For leaving the way I did. For not fighting harder. For pretending I was okay with losing you when I wasn’t.”My fingers trembled slightly.“I miss you. Not just the way things were, but you. The little things. The way you laughed at your own jokes. The way you made everything feel less heavy.”I paused.This was it. Everything I had held back, finally written out.All I had to do was press send.Just one tap.But my thumb hovered over the screen.Because sending it meant reopening something I wasn’t sure you wanted anymore.What if you had moved on?What if you were happier without me?What if this message only brought back something you had already worked so hard to forget?I locked my phone.The message stayed there.Unsent.Maybe some words are meant to be written, but never delivered.And maybe… some feelings don’t need an answer.They just need to be felt.So I let it be.The message I never sent...