12Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPKSsOtrDxD
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.12Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1RA20hXDJq
Then, without overthinking, she picked up a pen.
Her Entry – Week One
I don’t know if I still believe in forever.12Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPRm50Mx9Nn
But I do believe in now. And right now, I’m here.12Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ80nmI8y60h
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.12Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxqknYDsmfr
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.12Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtYd78Podh4
I miss how you’d kick your feet when you got excited.12Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbDitqzktRf
I miss the version of me who never made you doubt.12Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAVV9fwjDrd
I’m trying to be someone I wouldn’t cheat on either.12Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEH7W4bDr4G
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.12Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgFMKhqaUOD
Sometimes, it took days.12Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUkmP8YPlZx
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.12Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSy7WZ3nryH
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.12Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnfzbI0pmtn
I’m learning to give without expectation.
I still love you. But I love myself more now.12Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW1U1jrIwfs
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.12Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj5rxSX0P1H
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.12Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGtruHxb4dZ
It’s the one I chose at thirty-one, with my eyes wide open.12Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs2kHobfMdK
The one that scares me, because I know its weight.12Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkrRIs8ofxb
But also the one I believe in, because I know its depth.
You don’t complete me.12Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVGFcVaBLa7
You meet me — here, whole and flawed.12Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡueS0f6TNqd
And that’s all I ever really wanted.
They didn’t promise to write forever.12Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZo7okEGjGD
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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