Travis Hunter sat by the window of his apartment, staring out into the night, the city lights below twinkling like a million tiny stars. The decision he had been avoiding for weeks had finally come. He had to make a choice.
Leanna Lenee had always been a part of his life—his childhood friend, his confidante, and, for a time, his lover. Their bond had started innocently enough, with shared school projects and secret talks about their futures. But as they grew older, something more complicated bloomed between them. Love, in all its fiery, unpredictable glory, had woven itself into the very fabric of their connection. Yet, as much as he loved her, Travis felt the weight of something else hanging in the air, a quiet understanding between them that was slowly unraveling.
Leanna was everything he had ever wanted. Smart, beautiful, ambitious, and fiercely independent—she was a force of nature. But recently, their relationship had become strained, like two parallel lines that, despite their best efforts, refused to converge. Every conversation, once filled with laughter and lightness, now seemed to be laden with tension. He had tried to ignore it, to tell himself it was just a rough patch, but deep down, Travis knew something wasn’t right.
It wasn’t her. It was him.
The realization had hit him during a late-night conversation, when she had looked at him, her eyes tired but searching, as if looking for something he could no longer give. “Travis,” she had said softly, “do you even see me anymore?”
Her words echoed in his mind as he sat there now, weighing the past and the present. He thought about the moments they had shared—their first kiss, the late-night drives, the quiet moments when words weren’t necessary. But he also thought about the growing silence between them, the way they had become strangers in their own home, the way he felt like he was living in a world that no longer felt like his own.
He remembered how much Leanna had changed over the years, how she had blossomed into a woman who no longer needed him in the same way. She was a rising star in her own right, a woman with dreams that reached far beyond their small town, far beyond their past. And Travis? He felt like he was stuck, like his world had become smaller, more confined by the expectations of a future he wasn’t sure he wanted.
The decision wasn’t easy. He had loved Leanna, but the love they shared was no longer enough to keep them tethered to each other. There was a part of him that feared losing her entirely, that feared being alone. But there was also a part of him that knew he couldn’t keep holding onto something that was fading, no matter how much he wished otherwise.
It was time to let go.
With a heavy heart, Travis stood up, walking toward his phone. He dialed her number, feeling the weight of each ring as it echoed in his chest. He could almost hear her breath on the other end as she picked up.
“Travis?” Her voice was soft, tentative.
“Leanna,” he began, struggling to find the right words. “I’ve been thinking about us… about everything. And I think we both know it’s time to make a change.”
The silence on the other end of the line was deafening. He could hear her breathing, steady and slow, as if she were waiting for him to say the next thing. The thing that would break everything they had built.
“I think it’s time for us to go our separate ways,” he said, each word feeling like a weight he could no longer carry. “I love you, but I’m not the person you need anymore. And I don’t think you’re the person I need either. Not like this.”
There was no response at first. The silence felt eternal, stretching out like a chasm between them. But finally, she spoke, her voice barely above a whisper. “I know,” she said. “I think I’ve known for a while.”
Travis closed his eyes, the finality of the words sinking into his soul. It was done. He had made his decision. They were over.
As he hung up the phone and sat back down, the city lights outside seemed a little less bright. But Travis knew this was the right choice. The path ahead would be difficult, but it was time to find his own way forward. And Leanna, wherever she was, would have to find hers as well.
