Chapter 17: A Thousand Unspoken Things

Arielle didn't move.

Her back was to him, arms still wrapped tightly around herself as if holding in what little strength she had left.

Leonard took a slow breath.

"I know I don't deserve to stand here."

She didn't answer.

"But I need to."

Still, silence.

"Four years, Arielle. I thought about you every day."

She laughed softly—empty and bitter.

"No, you didn't."

"I did."

She turned, eyes sharp.

"Then why didn't you look for me?"

Leonard's mouth opened… but nothing came.

"Why didn't you send one message? One call? One damn sign that you cared?"

"Because I was a coward," he admitted. "Because I told myself you left. That you ended it. Just like I told you to."

Arielle shook her head, stepping past the fallen laundry basket.

"You don't get to hide behind guilt now."

"I'm not hiding."

"You are," she snapped. "You're hiding behind the past so you don't have to see what it did to me."

He looked at her then—really looked.

Her eyes were red, tired. Her cheeks thinner. Her hands rough from work. And yet, she stood with the same fire that once made him fall for her.

"You were never supposed to be part of the deal," Leonard whispered. "And then you became the only thing I wanted."

That made her blink.

"Too late," she said quietly. "You broke me, Leonard. You broke us. And I had to become someone else just to survive."

"You didn't deserve that," he whispered.

Arielle stepped closer.

"No. But Liam didn't deserve it more."

She swallowed hard.

"Do you know what it's like to hear your son ask why his friends have dads who pick them up, and he doesn't?"

Leonard looked away, guilt pressing down like stone.

"Do you know how many times I practiced answers I couldn't say?" she continued, voice cracking. "Because the truth would have crushed him?"

He closed his eyes.

"He deserves the truth," Leonard whispered.

"No," Arielle said, firm. "He deserves protection. You lost the right to the truth when you walked away."

Leonard's voice broke.

"I didn't know what love looked like back then. I didn't know what I was throwing away."

"And now?" she asked, her voice trembling.

"Now… I know that I left behind the only family I could've had."

Arielle stepped back, like she needed space to breathe.

"Do you know what scares me most?" she said. "That part of me still wants to believe you. That some part of me still aches when I look at you."

"I never stopped loving you," Leonard said, barely a whisper.

"Don't," she said quickly. "Don't say that. You don't get to say that after four years of silence."

Tears streamed down her cheeks now. She didn't wipe them away.

"You told me to erase him, Leonard. I needed you the most… and you told me to erase the best thing that's ever happened to me."

He looked at her like his chest had cracked open.

"I was scared," he said. "Stupid. And selfish. But I'm here now. I'm not running anymore."

"Good," she said softly. "Because you're going to need to prove it. Every day. Not with words. With actions."

Leonard nodded, his own eyes misting.

"I'll do whatever it takes."

She looked at him then—not with forgiveness, not yet—but with the weight of everything they'd been through.

"Then start with this," she said quietly. "Don't make promises you're not ready to keep. Don't try to force your way into Liam's life because you feel guilty."

"I want to be his father."

"Then earn it," she whispered. "Because right now, I'm the only parent he trusts. And I won't let anyone, not even you, hurt him."

Leonard stepped back slightly. He nodded.

"Okay."

Arielle's voice dropped, almost a whisper.

"This isn't a redemption arc, Leonard. This is real life. It's messy and fragile. And I don't have room for half-hearted regrets."

"It's not regret," he said. "It's responsibility. It's love."

"Then show me."

She turned to pick up the basket, her hands still trembling. Leonard moved to help, but she held up a hand.

"Not yet."

He stopped.

"I'm not saying no," she added. "But I'm not saying yes either."

Leonard watched her walk back inside with the basket in her arms and the door closing behind her like a soft, unfinished goodbye.

He stood there for a while—alone, under the dimming sky.

Knowing that love wasn't a word anymore.

It was a fight.

And he had just begun to earn his place in it.

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End of Chapter 17