A Fragile Beginning

The weight of Kristoff's words settled over me like a fragile thread thin, delicate, and easily broken.

I'm here.

I wanted to believe him. I wanted to take his hand and let all the pain and doubt melt away. But trust wasn't something I could give so easily anymore.

Kristoff studied me, waiting, his fingers still wrapped around mine.

I hesitated before pulling away, my heart pounding. "I don't know how to do this."

A flicker of hurt crossed his face, but he didn't let go completely. "We don't have to figure everything out right now."

"But we do." My voice cracked. "This baby isn't some abstract idea anymore. It's real. And I need to know where we stand before I get my hopes up."

Kristoff let out a slow breath, his grip tightening slightly. "I get it. And I won't tell you what to feel. But I need you to hear me I'm not leaving."

I searched his face, looking for cracks, for hesitation, for the moment he would flinch and prove my fears right.

But there was none.

Kristoff had always been difficult to read, but right now, his expression held nothing but raw sincerity.

I bit my lip, my chest aching. "I'm scared."

His fingers flexed around mine. "Me too."

The vulnerability in his voice nearly shattered me.

For so long, I had built walls to protect myself from more heartbreak. But Kristoff wasn't Derek. And no matter how much I wanted to run, something inside me whispered that maybe just maybe he meant it.

Still, I wasn't sure if I was ready to believe it yet.

I exhaled shakily. "We need time."

He nodded. "As much as you need."

A part of me wanted to collapse into his arms, to let him shoulder the weight I'd been carrying alone. But the other part the wounded, guarded part was still afraid.

I wasn't sure which side would win.

---

The Unspoken Distance

I stayed at the hospital longer than I intended.

Kristoff and I didn't talk much after our confrontation, but the silence between us felt differentbless like a wall and more like a fragile bridge, waiting to be crossed.

I watched as he dozed in and out of sleep, his body still weak from the stress his illness had put him through. The sight of him like this vulnerable, quiet made something in my chest ache.

When he finally drifted off, I slipped out of the room and wandered the hospital hallways.

I wasn't sure what I was looking for.

Clarity?

A sign that I was making the right decision?

I ended up in the small hospital café, staring blankly at a cup of tea I had no intention of drinking.

I was so lost in thought that I didn't notice someone approaching until a soft voice broke through the haze.

"You're Ariella, right?"

I looked up.

A woman stood in front of me, clutching a folder of patient charts. She was in her late twenties, with dark eyes and a gentle, knowing expression.

"I'm Nurse Emily," she introduced herself with a kind smile. "I've been taking care of Kristoff since he was admitted."

My stomach twisted. "Is he… okay?"

She nodded. "Physically, he's getting better. But emotionally…" She hesitated. "You mean a lot to him, you know?"

I swallowed hard. "We have a complicated history."

Emily sat down across from me, her gaze steady. "I don't know everything about your relationship, but I do know this he woke up asking for you."

My breath hitched.

"He was confused when you weren't there," she continued. "And when he finally understood you had left, he didn't say much, but… I could see it. The disappointment."

I stared down at my untouched tea, my hands tightening around the cup.

"Look, I'm not saying you owe him anything," Emily added gently. "But sometimes, people push away the ones they care about the most out of fear."

I exhaled shakily. "I don't know if I can trust him."

Emily studied me for a long moment before saying, "Then maybe instead of making a decision now, you should give yourself the chance to find out."

---

A Choice to Make

By the time I returned to Kristoff's room, the weight of uncertainty still clung to me.

He was awake again, watching me as I hesitated in the doorway.

I could leave right now. Walk away and never look back.

But as I met his eyes, something inside me shifted.

Maybe Emily was right.

Maybe I didn't have to decide everything tonight.

Taking a slow breath, I stepped inside and sat down beside him.

Kristoff's lips parted slightly in surprise, as if he had been expecting me to disappear again.

I picked at the hem of my sweater, my voice barely above a whisper. "I'm staying. For now."

His throat bobbed as he swallowed. "Okay."

He didn't press for more, didn't ask for promises I wasn't ready to give.

For the first time in what felt like forever, I let the silence between us settle not as a wall, but as something softer, something uncertain but open.

We weren't fixed.

We weren't perfect.

But maybe, just maybe, this was the beginning of something new.