27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIB353bg1c3
There was no ceremony to it.
No dramatic decision.
Just a notebook on the kitchen counter one Sunday morning, blank and waiting.
A sticky note on the cover, written in Andrei’s familiar handwriting:
“A new habit? One page a week. You. Me. No filters.”
Colleen stared at it for a long time.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9veV91UJ2U
Then, without overthinking, she picked up a pen.
Her Entry – Week One
I don’t know if I still believe in forever.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBM8NCUQKai
But I do believe in now. And right now, I’m here.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgTbROgzINM
I won’t lie and say I trust you fully. But I trust myself to walk away if it ever feels like I’m shrinking again.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPJCoKC6eGc
That’s something, right?
She closed the notebook gently and left it by his pillow.
The next morning, it was gone.
His Entry – Week One
I miss how we used to laugh at 2 a.m. over stupid YouTube videos.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKyHQZzTu1C
I miss how you’d kick your feet when you got excited.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4j17oGetCc
I miss the version of me who never made you doubt.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ05ATpd95hH
I’m trying to be someone I wouldn’t cheat on either.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRtJxkvy5XX
I hope you notice that.
She read it, heart twisting — not with pain, but with a strange warmth.
Not everything was healed. But something had shifted.
A Ritual of Honesty
Week after week, the journal grew.
They didn’t always read each other’s entries right away.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxftxJoOG41
Sometimes, it took days.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkuTdFL67NC
Sometimes, it took courage.
But it became their rhythm — an honesty they could ease into even when face-to-face words felt too sharp.
This week, I got scared when I saw you smile at your phone.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5CjnvPPhra
Then I felt stupid for being scared. But I still was.
You looked tired yesterday. I made tea. You didn’t notice, but that’s okay.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIvkY0rUvW0
I’m learning to give without expectation.
I still love you. But I love myself more now.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQNIZLE9oXc
That’s why I can stay — because I know I can also leave if I have to.
The Growth That Doesn’t Post on Instagram
No one clapped for them.
There were no hashtags. No grand “comeback” photos.
Just small things:
Two toothbrushes side by side again.
Groceries planned together, not out of routine but care.
Heated arguments, still — but with pauses, apologies, and reflection.
Not everything was better.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSIdIsDUOJF
But everything was real.
And sometimes, that was better than perfect.
The Final Page (For Now)
One rainy Friday, Colleen wrote:
This love isn’t the one I fell into when I was twenty-five.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ90xlxiwk4V
It’s the one I chose at thirty-one, with my eyes wide open.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRoF3xdW5cj
The one that scares me, because I know its weight.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbrzr016Qai
But also the one I believe in, because I know its depth.
You don’t complete me.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6Qp7wUKYqV
You meet me — here, whole and flawed.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZdQqnbgnUL
And that’s all I ever really wanted.
They didn’t promise to write forever.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDWNlcVnP6P
Just week to week. Truth to truth.
And for the first time, the story they were writing together felt like their own.
Not salvaged.
Rewritten.
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