Emily's heart still raced as she stepped away from the rooftop's edge, the rain soaking through her clothes and chilling her to the bone. The letter lay crumpled on the cold concrete behind her, forgotten. All that mattered now was the man standing just a few feet away—James—the one who had haunted her dreams and nightmares in equal measure.
His eyes searched hers, desperate for a sign, any sign, that she might still listen. But Emily wasn't sure if she was ready to open the door he'd slammed shut months ago.
"Why now?" she asked, voice barely audible over the pounding rain. "After all this time, why show up like this? After the silence, the emptiness?"
James looked away, swallowing hard. His hands clenched into fists at his sides, trembling with restrained emotion. "Because I can't live with the silence anymore. Every day without you felt like drowning. I thought I was protecting you by leaving, but all I did was break us."
Emily felt the ache in his words, but years of loneliness and unanswered questions fought against the flicker of sympathy rising inside her. "Protecting me? You vanished without a word. You left me to pick up the pieces alone."
His gaze met hers again, raw and pleading. "I was fighting demons you couldn't see. I thought I could handle it on my own. I never wanted to hurt you."
Her throat tightened. The truth hung between them like a fragile thread—ready to snap at any moment. "What demons, James? Tell me. I deserve to know."
He took a shaky breath. "I was diagnosed with depression. It hit me hard, darker than anything I'd ever faced. I didn't want you to see me like that—weak, broken. I thought if I disappeared, you'd be better off."
Emily blinked, the words piercing through the wall she'd built around her heart. She had heard of depression before, but the way he spoke made it real—an invisible battle so fierce that it tore him away from her.
"Why didn't you tell me?" she whispered. "We promised to be honest, no matter what."
James's eyes glistened with unshed tears. "I was ashamed. I didn't want you to carry my pain. I was scared I'd lose you if you knew the truth."
The rain continued to fall, washing over them like a baptism of sorrow and tentative hope. Emily's hands curled into fists, her mind racing through the months of silence—the nights she cried alone, the friends who tried to reach her, the constant ache of abandonment.
She wanted to scream at him for leaving. But beneath the anger, something fragile stirred—compassion.
"I was scared too," she admitted, voice trembling. "Scared that you'd never come back. That I'd never hear your voice again."
James stepped closer, the space between them charged with unsaid emotions. "I'm here now. I want to fight—for us, for you."
Emily closed her eyes, letting the rain soak her face as tears slipped down her cheeks. "I don't know if I can trust you yet."
He nodded slowly, understanding. "I don't expect that. But I'll stay. I'll prove it to you, every day."
For the first time since his disappearance, Emily felt a flicker of something she thought was lost forever: hope.
But as the rain soaked through their clothes and into their souls, the city around them remained indifferent, unaware of the fragile bond being rebuilt on a rooftop drenched in tears and memories.