In a small, dimly lit room, Jack sat alone on his bed, staring at the remnants of a love that once flooded his life with joy. A single hairband lay on the floor, the only piece of evidence that Sarah had been there, just days before. It was as if a tidal wave of memories crashed over him—each wave more powerful than the last, leaving him drenched in regret. He rubbed his eyes, trying to push away the tears that threatened to escape, but they felt like a relentless tsunami, impossible to control.

Jack sought solace in his old habits; he took to smoking during the day, the haze providing a temporary escape from the reality of his loneliness. At night, he left the lights on, afraid of the dark and what his thoughts might manifest. Time blended together in a blur. Weeks passed in the blink of an eye, yet he remained trapped in a cycle of intoxication, his heart burdened by a love that had crumbled beneath the weight of unanswered questions.

“I don’t drink like everybody else,” he reasoned. “I do it to forget.” But no amount of alcohol could drown out the memory of Sarah—the way her laughter once filled his life, now replaced by an overwhelming silence. Even as he stumbled through the dark nights, he felt the nagging question in his mind: “Am I close to you anymore if it’s over?”

Every friend who saw them together once believed they were destined for forever, but the cracks had shown long before they both admitted defeat. Jack convinced himself that he didn’t want to settle down, didn’t want to succumb to the mundane, yet he knew the truth: the love they had shared was too precious to let go unceremoniously. He thought of every moment they spent together—their lives seemingly parallel, yet separated by the chase of dreams: she at university, he on a tour bus, forever in motion while she remained still, caught in her own world.

One night, after too many drinks, Jack slipped into the haunting memories of their last kiss. It had been perfect—filled with nervous laughter and unspoken words, yet equally overshadowed by what lay beneath their surface. The pain of their separation was as real as the warmth of her skin against his. He contemplated reaching out, rekindling what had been lost, but doubt gripped him. “Pain is only relevant if it still hurts,” he muttered to himself, questioning if enough time had passed to heal or to forget.

Jack felt he was spiraling down a path of darkness, but in his heart, flickered a small spark of hope. “If you want, I’ll take you in my arms,” he thought silently, a promise to shelter her from his past mistakes. He whispered into the void, “I know you’ll say that I’m the only one,” but deep down, he understood the harsh reality: she deserved someone who could love her without hesitation, without the scars of past mistakes weighing them down.

He picked up the hairband again, memories flooding back—the laughter, the kisses, the dreams of forever. Despite his bravado, he felt the weight of regret, realizing he had lied to himself when he said he was okay. His heart still ached, even in her absence. “You and I ended over U-N-I,” he thought, grappling with the truth that somehow he had misled himself into believing it was fine. He sighed, knowing that she would always be the one who saw through his facade.

Jack stood up, determined to shed these burdens. If this was the end, perhaps it was also a beginning—a chance to grow, to learn, and to love, someday, just as fiercely as he had before, but differently. He folded the hairband carefully, a bittersweet reminder of what was left behind, and placed it in a box, hoping that one day, when the waves of longing had settled, he might find a way to move forward with an open heart.