>>41232703
The truth you buried but never disowned

You wanted to say it without cracking.
Without the tremble in your voice betraying just how long you'd held it in.
That it did matter.
That it still does.

You buried the moment in silence, hoping it would rot into irrelevance.
But it fermented instead - -
turned into something sour, something potent.
Not quite regret.
Not quite love.
But a sharp thing, lodged in your chest whenever you hear his name,
or worse - -
when you don’t.

You never said it because it felt too late.
Or too weak.
Or too honest.

But here it is:
"I wanted you to understand me. That’s all I ever wanted. And when you didn’t, I started pretending I didn’t need you to."

You never stopped needing that. You just stopped showing it.