🖤
It didn't happen at work, it didn't happen in front of cameras, it happened somewhere quiet, somewhere normal and somehow that made it worse.
Cassy had just stepped out of a small café, coffee in hand, phone in the other. For once, no noise, no pressure just a moment to breathe.
Until— "Cassy?" She froze, that voice, familiar, too familiar.
Slowly she turned and there he was. Ethan, her past, not complicated, not dramatic but real.
"Hi," he said softly.
Cassy blinked slightly. "…Ethan."
A pause. "I didn't expect to see you here," he added.
"Me neither."
Silence.
The kind that carried history. "You look… different," he said.
Cassy gave a faint smile. "…That's one way to say it."
Another pause. Ethan glanced at her phone then back at her. "I've been seeing things," he said carefully, of course he had, everyone had.
Cassy exhaled quietly. "…Yeah."
"I didn't think it was real," he continued. A pause. "But now…" He didn't finish, he didn't need to.
Cassy looked at him. "I wasn't planning to run into anyone I know today," she admitted.
Ethan chuckled softly. "Guess timing isn't your thing." That almost made her laugh, almost.
Silence settled again but this time it felt different.
"…Are you okay?" he asked, that question wasn't curious, it was genuine.
Cassy hesitated because she didn't have a simple answer. "…I'm trying to be," she said.
Ethan nodded slowly. "That doesn't sound easy."
"It's not."
A pause. "Is he worth it?" he asked. That question again but this time wasn't from the media, it was personal and that made it harder to answer.
Cassy looked down briefly then back at him. "…I don't know yet." Honest, completely.
Ethan studied her. "That's new," he said.
Cassy frowned slightly. "…What is?"
"You not knowing."
Silence.
Because he was right, she used to be sure, simple, certain but now everything felt more complicated. "I think I'm still figuring it out," she admitted.
Ethan nodded. "Just don't lose yourself while you do."
That line stayed because it echoed something she had already been thinking, something she had already said but hearing it from someone who knew her before made it real in a different way.
"I won't," she said softly. A pause. "I didn't before."
Ethan smiled faintly. "No," he said.
"You just… gave more than you should've."
That hit because it wasn't an accusation, it was memory, truth.
Cassy's chest tightened slightly. "I'm not doing that this time," she said more to herself than to him.
Ethan nodded. "Good." Another pause. Then, "I should go," he said.
Cassy nodded. "…Yeah."
He hesitated just for a second. "Take care of yourself, Cassy." And then he walked away just like that, no drama, no complication just a reminder of who she used to be and who she didn't want to lose.
Cassy stood there for a moment then looked down at her phone.
A message from Caleb. Where are you?
She stared at it then typed back. Out. I'll be back soon.
A pause then another message came. Be careful.
Cassy smiled faintly not because it was dramatic but because it was simple, real and maybe that was enough.
For now.