10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnIRMZe9mF1
There was no ceremony to it.
No dramatic decision.
Just a notebook on the kitchen counter one Sunday morning, blank and waiting.
A sticky note on the cover, written in Andrei’s familiar handwriting:
“A new habit? One page a week. You. Me. No filters.”
Colleen stared at it for a long time.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5B0EjRmLSq
Then, without overthinking, she picked up a pen.
Her Entry – Week One
I don’t know if I still believe in forever.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMNmrf3otJ2
But I do believe in now. And right now, I’m here.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4tkJZfNP3H
I won’t lie and say I trust you fully. But I trust myself to walk away if it ever feels like I’m shrinking again.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkcCoQ3U5T6
That’s something, right?
She closed the notebook gently and left it by his pillow.
The next morning, it was gone.
His Entry – Week One
I miss how we used to laugh at 2 a.m. over stupid YouTube videos.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK00CQ5aotc
I miss how you’d kick your feet when you got excited.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlCl4j5RXJn
I miss the version of me who never made you doubt.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeBBiE7WbFU
I’m trying to be someone I wouldn’t cheat on either.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡORLr5xuutX
I hope you notice that.
She read it, heart twisting — not with pain, but with a strange warmth.
Not everything was healed. But something had shifted.
A Ritual of Honesty
Week after week, the journal grew.
They didn’t always read each other’s entries right away.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFqjwSFr8YP
Sometimes, it took days.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSEmj5R0O5E
Sometimes, it took courage.
But it became their rhythm — an honesty they could ease into even when face-to-face words felt too sharp.
This week, I got scared when I saw you smile at your phone.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ55lUiJTtkh
Then I felt stupid for being scared. But I still was.
You looked tired yesterday. I made tea. You didn’t notice, but that’s okay.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLM9lImxacd
I’m learning to give without expectation.
I still love you. But I love myself more now.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdIlEY4qRMM
That’s why I can stay — because I know I can also leave if I have to.
The Growth That Doesn’t Post on Instagram
No one clapped for them.
There were no hashtags. No grand “comeback” photos.
Just small things:
Two toothbrushes side by side again.
Groceries planned together, not out of routine but care.
Heated arguments, still — but with pauses, apologies, and reflection.
Not everything was better.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ7gDscqyeo
But everything was real.
And sometimes, that was better than perfect.
The Final Page (For Now)
One rainy Friday, Colleen wrote:
This love isn’t the one I fell into when I was twenty-five.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV0N4imIdhp
It’s the one I chose at thirty-one, with my eyes wide open.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcClpNF2Bev
The one that scares me, because I know its weight.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAaMg34LcV4
But also the one I believe in, because I know its depth.
You don’t complete me.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeK3EDRCD0P
You meet me — here, whole and flawed.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsnBsUrn3II
And that’s all I ever really wanted.
They didn’t promise to write forever.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBtVMem7hhu
Just week to week. Truth to truth.
And for the first time, the story they were writing together felt like their own.
Not salvaged.
Rewritten.
ns216.73.216.247da2
