They always stuck to their lines.
“That was very kind of you.”
“Shut up.”
They always kept up the act.
“I don’t even like you.”
“You do.”
But they have always known.
The final fifteen were never about confessing love. Or denying love. It was about wanting to change the script. To stop pretending.
It was about
“I would like to spend…”
and about
“I need you.”
But old habits die hard. And sometimes the only safe path is the one that has already been scripted.
Sometimes it has to be
“I forgive you.”
but sometimes, despite it all, there is only strength enough for
“Don’t bother.”