PRESENT
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MELINA'S POV
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I felt a wave of relief as my fingers curled tightly around the phone in my hand. My phone. The one I had been searching for like it held the keys to my missing life. The screen, however, was fractured—covered with broken lines that looked eerily similar to the cracks in my memory.
I pressed the power button, desperate, almost begging it to come alive. Nothing. No flicker. No light. Just black.
My tired reflection stared back at me from the shattered glass: swollen eyes streaked with tears, a face pale and exhausted, and hair clinging lifelessly to my cheeks. What looked back at me wasn't me—it was a ghost.
My throat tightened. I pressed the cold phone to my chest, palms trembling, then clasped my hands together as if in prayer. I was begging—pleading—for someone, anyone, to save me from this black hole I was trapped in.
This black hole wasn't just emptiness. It was hunger. It pulled me in, sucked the air out of my lungs, drained my soul until all that was left was a clump of flesh with emotions so numb they barely registered as human.
So that's it. The phone wasn't helpful. It was just another broken thing. Like me.
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"Theo, you need to stop coming to see Melina. She doesn't remember you. She's a mess. If she sees you, she'll break down more. She'll end up hurting herself. So just… leave her alone. She doesn't remember you, she will be desperate trying so hard to remmeber you. It is not good for her. Thats what the doctor said. Keep her away from stress. You are Stress here in Melina's case. Stay away, If you love her—please, I'm begging you."
Doctor? Has she ever met with doctor in this regard? Nope.
She doesn't even know the doctor's name.
Melodie's voice cracked like a whip, echoing through the café. The sound seemed to bounce off the walls, slapping Theo harder with every repetition. Each echo told him again and again: Melina can't face you. Even as throwing words as sharp as daggers to Theo, Melodie's Sentense and whole existence lacked compassion to her sister.
Melodie had insisted on meeting with Melina's friends, hoping to put an end to their constant questions about her sister's well-being. But the truth spilled out harsher as she had intended, and now it filled the air with tension. This is what she wanted. Melina being the centre of attention here, centre of attention of Theo, ignites very disgustingly powerful jealousy in her.
Melodie have always been that.
"But if she sees me… she might remember—" Theo's words stumbled out, desperate, fragile, more of a plea than an argument. The idea of staying away from Melina was gnawing at his very being.
"Shut up, Theo!" Melodie snapped, her voice rising sharp enough to cut glass. "No! She won't remember! She's sick! You're not some kind of magic beyond science!"
But she was wrong.
Because Theodore Frost was magic beyond science to Melina. A force of nature. At first, he had been a violent storm, crashing into her life with unstoppable power. But slowly, steadily, he had softened into a delicate rain. A tender drizzle that clung to her skin, soothing her, calming her.
Melina loved the rain.
Melina loved Theo.
"Stop saying that! You're not Theo's girlfriend!" Zara snapped, her voice trembling with anger.
"Melina would know Theo! She'd never forget him! Who knows if you're lying just to get close to him?!" Dove spat out the words, her anger burning hot, but she restrained her hands from striking Melodie across the face.
Tears slipped down Melodie's cheeks, her head bowing.
A wolf in the cloth of sheep, thats what Melodie is.
Even as tears soaked her face, Her eyes didn't soften.
"Sh-she is… she is my sister."
The mask Melodie had been wearing for so long finally slipped, .
But was she really crying for her sister? Or for Theo? Or for another reason entirely? Nobody could tell.
"Leave," Zara hissed, her teeth clenched tight as if holding herself back from exploding.
Melodie lifted her gaze, her eyes lingering on Theo's for longer than a heartbeat, before finally turning away and walking out of the café.
Theo sat silently. His once-handsome face was dulled by exhaustion, his eyes swollen, lifeless, with heavy shadows clinging beneath them.
"Melina said she didn't want to meet us," Zara muttered, staring blankly at the café's glass door, her voice low, as though speaking the words out loud hurt.
Dove sighed heavily, her chest rising and falling as if the air was too heavy to breathe. " maybe.. She really doesn't remember us." Her eyes flicked toward Theo, who said nothing, his gaze locked on the void ahead.
"You need to meet Melina," Dove whispered suddenly, her voice shaking but determined.
Theo's head tilted slightly, processing her words, but he didn't immediately respond. Instead, his jaw tightened. He bit his lower lip, eyebrows furrowed deeply, chest rising with sharp, uneven breaths as though restraining the torrent of emotions threatening to drown him.
His hands were buried deep in the pockets of his jacket, one leg stretched out under the café table, his whole body tense as a bowstring. He tilted his head back, staring up at the ceiling, willing himself not to collapse, not to sob, not to run straight into Melina's arms and hold her close until she remembered everything.
Zara abruptly pushed her chair back. "I need to go washroom," she muttered, rushing away. Inside, she stood before the mirror, staring at her reflection. Her face looked too open, too raw, on the verge of breaking. Tears burned in her eyes. Watching her brother crumble silently was tearing her apart.
At the table, Dove sniffled, her voice breaking in half as she muttered something about the cold. But they both knew. Everyone knew. None of them were okay.
Theo finally spoke. His voice was steady, but it carried a weight that threatened to crush them all.
"I can't live without her. That's true. But watching her struggle like this—it's torture. I'd rather see her move on, living a happy life, married, than watch her fall apart like this. If not knowing me will help her heal faster… then I'll stay away."
With that, Theo pushed back his chair and stood. He walked out of the café without another word, his face hidden from them, his heart shattered into pieces only he would carry.
Because Theo knew—loving someone sometimes meant letting them go. And he did. He let Melina go. Physically.
But emotionally? Never.
Letting go of Melina would mean letting go of himself.
So he carried on, choosing to live with the memories that chained him to her. Memories of laughter, love, storms, and gentle rains.
One thing was certain: if the Melina who remembered could speak to him now, she would never let him walk away like this. She would push him back toward herself, toward the Melina who had forgotten. Because deep down, she would know—the emptiness Melina felt now, that gaping void inside her soul, was born from losing the people who had made her life bright.
Theo. Zara. Dove. Their bond. Their colors.
What had Melina done to them, to leave them like this? To force them to grieve her as though she were gone?
She had left Theodore Frost alone. In the dark.
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At the same midday, Melina's voice echoed in the car:
" 𝗠𝗼𝗺 𝗜 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗲𝗲𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗱𝘀"
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