EMOTIONAL DISTANCE

Ann's aartment felt quieter than usual.

The days had been blurring together her art classes, the late-night walks, and the strange sensation of starting to build a life outside of the shadow of her past.

But there was something unsettling about it all. As much as she had grown, as much as she was beginning to take control of her own life, something was missing. Or perhaps, someone was.

The more Ann thought about it, the clearer it became. She had started to feel like she was leaning too much on Tobias.

His presence, once a comforting reprieve from the heaviness of her life, now felt like a very big burden

.

She wasn't sure when it had happened when his constant support had gone from being a lifeline to a crutch but there it was.

The realization that she needed to stand on her own without depending on him to prop her up.

She hadn't meant for things to get this way. She didn't want to hurt him.

But the way Tobias had started to weave into her daily routine, his messages popping up on her phone at predictable intervals, the dinners, the walks... it was all becoming too familiar.

Too safe And Ann was not sure if she was ready to let him be the anchor in her life.

She stared at her phone one morning,after some days the he had replied the messages, her thumb hovering over Tobias's chat.

He had texted her earlier, asking if she was free to grab coffee later that day.

A simple message, a kind offer, but something inside her heavily bristled at the thought.

She was not free. Not really. She was working on her art, discovering herself in ways she hadn't known were possible.

She felt extremely guilty, guilty for the way Tobias had been in touch for her, for the way he made her feel seen when no one else had.

But the situation was different now. It was not iust that she was starting to take more space for herself.

It was the feeling that she was using him as a distraction from the harder work of fixing her family background , confronting her own fears, her own brokenness.

Her phone buzzed again. Tobias.

"Hey, you seem a little distant lately. Is everything okay? Want to catch up today?"

Ann swallowed. The message felt heavy, filled with the weight of unspoken questions, and yet she couldn't bring herself to reply immediately.

She had already been pulling back, hadn't she? Her answers had been shorter, her excuses more frequent.

She had claimed to be busy, to have things to do, her art that he normally used for catching up on life.

All of that was true, but the real reason why she hadn't replied to him the way she normally does before is because she needed space.

And yet, she didn't know how to tell him that without breaking his heart.

With a sigh, Ann typed out a response.

"I've been meaning to catch up, but l've got a lot on my plate right now. I think I just need some time to focus on my own things. Hope you understand."

She stared at the message for a long time before pressing send,and immediately the message delivered, a sharp pang of regret piercing through her chest. Her fingers trembled slightly as she set the phone down, staring at it as if it were an alien object.

Tobias would be disappointed. He would probably be confused, hurt and angry . She wasn't sure what would come of this.

Would he reach out again?

Would he ever run his life give her the space she asked for?

A part of her wanted to pull the message back, to call him and apologize for being distant. To tell him that it wasn't him, it was her.

But she knew deep down that she couldn't keep living in this space of uncertainty.

She couldn't keep letting him play the role of the person who "rescued" her every time things got hard.

She needed to leam how to rescue herself.

The phone buzzed again. Tobias's reply.

"Of course. I get it. Just wanted to make sure you're okay. I'm here if you need anything."

Ann's chest tightened. She had done it. She had created the distance. But it hurt more than she thought it would.

As the days passed, Ann continued to keep her distance. She canceled plans. She didn't respond as quickly to his texts. When Tobias reached out, she'd reply with short, polite answers. He kept checking in, always with the same warmth, the same care, but it was starting to feel like a reminder of how much she had changed.

How much she needed to change.

One afternoon, a few weeks later, Tobias sent her a message about an art exhibit in town. He asked if she wanted to go, but this time, Ann hesitated. She was busy she had told herself she was busy but really, it was more than that. She wasn't sure if she was ready to open that door again!

"I'm sorry, I can't. Maybe another time."

She didn't explain why. She didn't offer more than that.

A part of her wanted to scream at herself for being absurdly stupid.

But another part, the part that had been learning to grow and be more than the person who always relied on others, told her this was the only way forward. If she didn't pull away now, she would lose herself completely.

But still, with every text she didn't reply to, with every invitation she declined, she felt the space between them widening, like an invisible wall that neither of them had wanted to build.

One evening, as Ann sat alone with her thoughts, she wondered if Tobias felt it too. If he could sense that their connection was slipping through their fingers.

The thought losing him made her ache, but she also knew deep down that she could not keep holding on to something she was not ready for.

And so, she chose to continue creating the distance, despite the love and warmth Tobias had shown her.

She would face her fears, her demons, what shadowed her and her future alone-for now.