KEEP CLOSE, STAND TALL

by legilimens

now.

It starts with the silence, followed by a hollow feeling that eats you whole, you in like it's desperate to leave you nothing but the uncertainty that you're not enough— that you will never be enough.

It taunts you to cry, to grab hold of something superficial, and to pretend that everything is okay even when it's not. You will act like it's alright, you will stand tall, you will smile, and you will say that, no, nothing's wrong.

He loves me. He loves me. Helovesmehelovesme. He. Loves. Me.

But, he doesn't anymore, does he?

He's changed, and part of that change didn't involve you.

interim.

She bites her lower lip, hair splayed around the pillow, as her arms shifts to wrap around his neck. A pretty blush ghosts over her cheeks, looking up at the eyes of her lover with tenderness she couldn't help from showing before pulling him down, brushing her nose with his whilst grinning cheekily.

He chuckles. "Stop being cute."

"I thought you like me being cute," she taunts, fingers drumming his .

"Not in this moment, no," he replies with a shake of his head, his hands guiding her legs to wrap around his waist, and he smiles. "Not when you're this beautiful in the morning, in my bed, and about to be ed by me— senseless."

She is more than willing to drop the act, as he penetrates her swollen .

Later, when they are done and she's catching her breath, he pulls her close and murmurs the many things that he loves about her.

now.

His side of the bed remains cold for two days now, and she ignores it.

She washes the dishes, she takes out the trash, she listens to the radio, she folds the laundry, she buys groceries, she c