14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡraayLLVXPz
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.14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡefhEo9QCQv
Then, without overthinking, she picked up a pen.
Her Entry – Week One
I don’t know if I still believe in forever.14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwA7VQbwNZw
But I do believe in now. And right now, I’m here.14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5CIx4FFOuZ
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.14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYiljNMHyFZ
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.14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKjQxgvMtuJ
I miss how you’d kick your feet when you got excited.14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgmwssomjxB
I miss the version of me who never made you doubt.14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzX8dWuaY2Q
I’m trying to be someone I wouldn’t cheat on either.14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmhyGgM06CI
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.14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1ELHgmA1I9
Sometimes, it took days.14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbuqr5H4XeT
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.14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdoGl5kynHN
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.14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzUNaSJnh62
I’m learning to give without expectation.
I still love you. But I love myself more now.14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM2tqn5rorJ
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.14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGWZTsm5Iwv
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.14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxB1p5l3oIi
It’s the one I chose at thirty-one, with my eyes wide open.14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9VGGBHZeml
The one that scares me, because I know its weight.14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQrF4s5GITT
But also the one I believe in, because I know its depth.
You don’t complete me.14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnBFtAwFCE9
You meet me — here, whole and flawed.14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGRGRFbM2vE
And that’s all I ever really wanted.
They didn’t promise to write forever.14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ10c3qjcPKp
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.
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