She cuts me off with a sharp shake of her head. “Do you even know what you did to me, Ace?” Her voice breaks, trembling now. “I spent months in a hospital learning how to exist without you. I had to learn how to breathe, how to stand, how to stop waking up screaming your name. And when I finally—finally—got to a place where I could eat without shaking, laugh without guilt, you think you can just… walk back in?”
My legs buckle, and I lean heavily against the wall. “I know I broke you, Britt. I know.” My voice is hoarse. “But I’m here to fix it. I’ll do anything.”
For a long, searing moment, she just stares at me.
Then she laughs softly — but there’s no joy in it. “You’re here to fix it?” she echoes. “Ace, I’m not a project you can patch up. I’m not your redemption arc.”
The door creaks open behind her, and Sylvia steps into view, arms crossed, protective. “You okay, B?” she asks quietly.
Brittany glances over her shoulder, her face crumpling for a split second. “Yeah. I’m okay.”
“Want me to stay?”
“No. I got this.”
Sylvia throws me a look sharp enough to slice bone before slipping back inside.
Brittany blows out a breath, arms wrapping around herself. “Look,” she says, voice quieter now, “I get it. Maybe you realized you love me. Maybe you even mean it. But that’s not enough, Ace. Love isn’t enough when the person you love is the one who shattered you.”
I take a step forward. “I was scared,” I whisper. “Scared of how much you mattered. Scared of messing it up. But, Britt, I need you.”
She holds up a hand, backing away. “Don’t you dare say you need me. I am not your drug, Ace.” Her voice wavers. “I can’t be the thing you run to every time you’re lost.”
Tears burn in my eyes, and I’m not sure I’ve ever hated myself more. “Please,” I choke out. “Please tell me there’s still a chance.”
Brittany leans against the doorframe, exhaustion settling into her bones. “You want honesty?” She meets my eyes, raw and unflinching. “I still love you. God help me, I probably always will.”
My heart leaps, but she cuts it down with a single word:
“But.”
“But I don’t trust you,” she whispers. “And I don’t know if I ever will again You broke my heart years ago. You brought my fears and nightmares to life,you bullied me when I needed you the most,yet I still returned to you. Only for you to destroy me.”
The silence between us is a living thing, heavy and suffocating.
“I'm so sorry……please “
“I can wait,” I whisper. “I can prove it.”
She shakes her head, tears slipping free now, glistening tracks down her cheeks. “Ace… you should have proved it before you lost me.”
My knees buckle, and I sink to the step. She stands over me, arms wrapped around herself like she’s holding in all the pieces I broke.
“I’m not slamming the door in your face,” she says softly. “But I’m not letting you in, either.”
I nod, swallowing down the scream clawing at my throat. “Okay,” I croak. “Okay.”
She kneels in front of me, just for a moment, and brushes her fingers along my jaw — a whisper of the girl I once knew.
“I hope you figure yourself out, Ace,” she murmurs. “But don’t make me your finish line. It's been fun”
And then she’s gone. The door clicks softly shut behind her, and I’m left sitting on the cold concrete steps, staring at the sky that never looked so empty.
Chapter 47
Ace
I don’t remember how long I sat on those steps after Brittany closed the door.
