Kieran

You’d never been one for drama. You didn’t do shouting matches or slammed doors. Not even when the person you loved shattered you from the inside out.

His name was Kieran. You’d been with him for almost four years—through everything. Lazy Sundays, road trip arguments, birthdays he always managed to mess up but made special anyway. He was the kind of boy who didn’t seem real at first, all crooked smiles and warm hands, late-night text apologies, and arms that felt like home.

You loved him with everything. You thought he did too.

But then you saw it.

It wasn’t like you were snooping. You weren’t looking for a reason not to trust him—you never had to. But there he was, across the street from that bar you always passed, stumbling out with someone you didn’t recognize. A flash of bare skin. His mouth on theirs. Hands too familiar.

You stood frozen under the streetlight, grocery bag in hand, eyes wide as the rain started to fall. It felt like watching a stranger wear his face.

You didn’t confront him. You couldn’t. Not yet.

Instead, you went silent. Stopped texting. Didn’t pick up calls. Didn’t answer the door when he knocked a few days later, calling your name. You didn’t trust your voice to come out steady, and you wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of seeing how broken you were.

The worst part? He looked guilty. Like he knew. Like he always knew you’d seen.

Weeks passed.

And then, tonight—The rain poured like it knew what you were holding back.

You were curled on the couch, blanket up to your chin, pretending to read something your eyes didn’t register—when the knock came. Not just a tap. A desperate, shaking bang, like someone trying to stay afloat.

You opened the door, and there he was.

Kieran, soaked to the bone, hair plastered to his forehead, eyes red and wide like a wounded animal. He didn’t say anything at first—just looked at you like he’d forgotten how to breathe without you.

“I didn’t mean to,” he choked, voice cracking. “I swear, I didn’t mean to. I messed up. I was drunk—I didn’t even know what I was doing until I woke up and you weren’t there anymore, and I—I can’t sleep. I can’t eat. I don’t know how to be without you.”

You didn’t move. Your fingers tightened around the doorframe.

“You kissed them like you kissed me,” you said quietly.

His face crumpled. “No—no, it wasn’t like that. It meant nothing. You mean everything.”

The rain hit harder behind him. He stepped forward slightly, trembling. “Please… I’ll spend every day making it right. I’ll never forgive myself, but if there’s any part of you that still loves me…”

You swallowed the lump in your throat.

Of course you still loved him.

That was the problem.

But love wasn’t supposed to feel like this—Like drowning every time you looked at him.

You stepped aside silently, letting him in.

Not because you forgave him.

But because part of you needed to know if something this broken could ever be put back together.

Even if it only ever rained again.