The boring goodbye

Boring Goodbye

Jalen's POV

The moment Paris reached Fiona's bedside, she broke down completely.

Tears streamed down her face as she grabbed Fiona's hand carefully, afraid of hurting her.

"Fiona, I'm so sorry," she sobbed. "I'm sorry for everything. I should have protected you better. I should have been there."

Fiona looked exhausted, but she managed a weak smile.

"Paris..."

"No," Paris cried. "Let me finish. I've been blaming myself every single day. When I heard what happened, I thought..." Her voice cracked. "I thought I lost you."

The room fell silent as Fiona squeezed her hand gently.

"You didn't lose me."

Paris let out a shaky laugh through her tears.

"Thank God."

Jude sluggishly emerged from Paris's back, his face looked annoyingly sober, he looked genuinely ashamed.

"I'm sorry too, Fiona."

Fiona's expression immediately changed, Jude felt it and instantly lowered his head.

"I know I don't deserve forgiveness. I know I caused you a lot of pain. I was selfish. I thought I loved you, but I became obsessed." He swallowed hard. "I never wanted any of this to happen, I'm truly sorry." The room remained quiet for a while.

After several seconds, Fiona spoke softly.

"I forgive both of you."

Jude's eyes widened. "You do?"

She managed to nod her head "I do. But that doesn't mean things can go back to how they were."

His smile disappeared.

"I can't be your friend again, Jude.I trusted you," she said quietly. "And you hurt me, so bad."

Jude stared at her for a long moment before nodding.

"I understand."

He looked away quickly, hiding the disappointment in his eyes before speaking again. "I'm just glad you're alive."

They stayed a little longer with Fiona before finally taking their leave.

* * * *

After a few weeks, Fiona was finally discharged from the hospital, her recovery was slow but i never left her side even while she was home, Harry hated to see me around but he never interfered. Sometimes we talked, we watched movies together and sometimes she slept while I sat beside her bed and simply watched her little chest breathe like I was afraid it’ll stop.

The tension between me and Harry was impossible to miss but I kept showing up, my intention was never to disrespect him, I just couldn't imagine my life without Fiona. I was even more shocked when he gave us space to be together when i’m around Fiona.

Eventually, he stopped glaring at me, whenever he noticed Fiona smiling because of something I said, he quietly excused himself.

One afternoon, Fiona was laughing at a terrible joke I'd made when I caught Harry watching us from the doorway. There was sadness in his eyes as he looked at Fiona before looking at me.

Then he walked away without saying a word. That night, he asked me to step outside.

We stood together in his garden, the cold wind blew between us.

"You love her." he said, It wasn't a question, he said it bluntly.

I looked away. "More than anything Harry, but we shouldn’t be talking about it."

Harry nodded slowly. "I know."

I stared at him in surprise and he exhaled heavily.

"I've spent weeks watching you. You look at her the same way I look at her mother."

Emotion tightened my chest.

"But that doesn't change the situation." I closed my eyes, disappointed. “I know,” I answered.

"You promised me something."

The words felt like a knife, I remembered what I promised him but it felt like a hard pill to swallow. Harry looked up at the dark sky. "When Fiona recovers completely, you leave," he added. The conversation was awkward and painful. I couldn't believe I had lost years of friendship because I had to choose the woman I loved.

I wanted to fight back and tell him I couldn't do it, but I had given my word, and Harry had finally started trusting me again so I nodded.

A week later, Fiona’s bruises had started to fade, the sparkle slowly returned to her eyes, and with every passing day, my deadline came closer. The hardest part wasn't leaving, it was pretending everything was normal while knowing I was counting down the final moments I had with her. I couldn’t bring myself to tell her I was leaving. Harry allowed me to sleep over on the last day I had with her and I couldn't have been more grateful.

* * * *

The next morning, I rushed out of her room before she woke up back to my house. I packed the remaining few boxes I had left and headed out of the house that held so much pain and memories. I stood alone outside my empty house, the furniture had already been removed, I had ordered the moving company earlier to take everything.

I pulled out my phone, Fiona's picture filled the screen, my thumb hovered over the call button, I thought I could handle talking to her until she picked up and I heard her voice. My heart skipped and I quickly put the phone away without a word.

Fiona's POV

The morning felt strange.

I woke up expecting Jalen's to be by my side but he was nowhere to be found. I called and expected his text but nothing came. By noon, I started feeling uneasy, Jalen never disappeared without telling me. I called again but it went straight to voicemail. A knot formed in my stomach, something was wrong and I could feel it grip my skin. I grabbed my keys and drove to his house.

The moment I arrived, my heart stopped. The house looked completely empty.

Only a sign that says “FOR SALE” was planted on his door. My breathing became shallow.

"No."

I rushed toward the front door and peered through the windows, it was empty. My hands started trembling. I pulled out my phone and dialed his number again, still no answer, fear spread through my chest, I practically ran back to my car and drove back home, tears pooled under my lids begging to drop. The moment I entered the house, I found Dad sitting in the living room.

The expression on his face told me everything, my stomach dropped, he knew.

"Dad..." He slowly stood.

"Fiona."

My eyes filled with tears. "Where's Jalen?" he stared at me without a word. "Dad." he sighed.

"He left in a hurry this morning."

The words shattered something inside me.

“Did he tell you where?" I asked with a shaky voice.

"He relocated."

"No."

His expression softened. "Fiona—"

"No!" Tears spilled down my cheeks. "He wouldn't leave without telling me." My chest tightened painfully, I could barely breathe. "He promised he wouldn't leave me again." Then realization crashed into me, this was why he hadn't answered, why everything felt different lately, He was saying goodbye without actually saying it.

I turned and ran back to my car, dad kept calling me back but I never cared, I just hoped it wasn't too late. I drove straight to the airport, every second felt unbearable.

“Please still be there. Please Please. Please.” I murmured while speeding through the road, I parked recklessly and sprinted inside. I ran from terminal to terminal asking questions, searching desperately, hoping and praying. Then I found the departure screen, his flight had taken off.

the world seemed to stop as I stared at the screen, he didn’t keep his promise again, he left me again. Tears came instantly, I sank into one of the airport seats and buried my face in my hands, people walked past, announcements echoed through the building but my head was only filled with painful thoughts. The one person who made me feel safe, loved and free had left.

Hours later, I returned home after dad was done blowing my phone with calls and a series of messages that I chose to ignore, the house felt emptier than ever, Dad tried speaking to me but he paused when he saw the expression on my face.

I went upstairs and locked myself inside my room before climbing onto my bed and stared at the ceiling. Everything reminded me of him as a single tear rolled down my cheek, then another and another. I felt completely broken, I had no idea if he was ever coming back.