74.Why Did You Leave?

You left, didn't you? Without a word,

without a glance back at the place

we built together, the quiet corner

where love was once enough.

But now, it isn't, is it?

You walked away,

and I'm still standing in the ruins,

wondering what I did wrong,

wondering why my love wasn't enough

to make you stay.

I wasn't perfect, I know that.

Poor, ugly, maybe even weak,

but you—you looked at me first.

You saw something in me, didn't you?

Something worth loving, worth holding.

It was your eyes that caught mine,

your heart that reached for mine.

But now, your heart is closed,

and I'm left holding the pieces

of what I thought we were.

Why did you leave?

Was my love too small?

Did it not reach the places in you

that needed to feel alive?

I gave what I had,

even when I thought it wasn't enough,

even when I knew I wasn't enough.

But you—you said we could be more,

that love would make up the difference,

that love would carry us

through the cracks we couldn't fill.

Now, I look for you in the silence,

in the spaces where your laughter used to echo,

but all I find is the emptiness

you left behind.

You left, and I stayed—

not because I wanted to,

but because I didn't know how to go.

I didn't know how to walk away

from the love that I thought was still real.

We loved each other, didn't we?

It wasn't just a dream,

something I imagined

in the dark spaces of my mind.

You loved me first, didn't you?

Before I ever knew what love felt like,

before I ever thought to reach for you.

You came to me, and I followed,

trusting that your love was true,

that your words meant something

more than just whispers in the wind.

But now, you've gone,

and I'm left wondering why.

What did I do wrong?

Was it my face, too worn and tired,

or my hands, too rough, too cold?

Was it my silence when you needed words,

or my words when you craved quiet?

I don't know, I don't know—

and the knowing won't come.

You said we could make it,

that love was enough to fill the gaps,

to hold us together when the world pulled us apart.

But where is that love now?

Where are the promises you made?

They crumble in my hands,

dust beneath my fingers,

and I'm left holding nothing

but the memory of what we were.

I know I'm not perfect.

I know I don't fit the picture

of what you wanted in the end.

But why did you look at me first,

if you knew you'd look away?

Why reach for my heart,

if you were only going to drop it?

I loved you, and I still do.

But now, my love feels like a weight,

like something too heavy to carry alone.

I thought you would stay,

thought you'd hold onto the love we built.

But now I see that love

wasn't enough for you.

It was enough for me—

but never for you.

I gave what I had,

even when it felt like too little.

I loved you, even when the days were long

and the nights were cold.

I loved you in the spaces between the fights,

in the quiet moments we never spoke of.

I loved you when you didn't deserve it,

when you pushed me away,

when you made me feel small.

But you—you left anyway.

You walked away from the love

that could have held us both,

from the life we could have shared.

Now, I'm standing here,

holding the love you left behind,

and I don't know what to do with it.

Why did you leave?

Why did you give up

when I was willing to stay,

when I was willing to fight

for what we had?

You told me once that love was enough,

but now I see it wasn't—

not for you.

I wonder if you'll think of me,

if you'll remember the love

you left behind,

the heart you walked away from

without a second glance.

I wonder if you'll regret it,

if you'll miss what we had

when the nights grow long

and the world feels cold.

But maybe you won't.

Maybe you'll forget,

and I'll just be a shadow

in the life you live now.

Maybe you'll move on,

while I'm left behind,

holding the pieces of a love

that wasn't enough to make you stay.

You left, didn't you?

And I'm still here,

wondering why I wasn't worth the time,

why my love wasn't enough

to keep you from walking away.