It was a gray day. The kind that just killed the spirit after a long ass winter. And it had been a long ass winter Bella had thought to herself. She was walking with Linus from uptown where he had tired to get help to no avail because Bella wouldn’t help him. She wouldn’t lie.

She had wanted to, but she just couldn’t open her mouth to say what she knew he wanted her to say. She had wanted to believe that maybe this would help bring him back to her, but a bigger part of her knew better.

She could tell by the way he was carrying his shoulders and walking slightly ahead of and not with her that he was angry with her about how it went down.

He started to speak, Bella’s brain rushed into overdrive thinking that this could be finally that long over due conversation that she had been waiting months for.

Bella tried to reason with him and use this moment to say some of the things she had wanted to say.

Linus had cut her off before she could barely get another word out.

He yelled “I CAN’T LOVE YOU LIKE YOU WANT ME TO!!”

It had been the middle of the day in the middle of a busy street. There were cars and people. Witnesses.

She sighed long and hard. Waited for him to continue walking in front her so she could cry in peace, quietly without him seemingly exasperated by her.

They both knew she would help eventually.

She died a little inside with that thought burning away at her already tired soul.

And with it, burned away another string in the disentanglement of Bella and Linus.