The airport buzzed with life—announcements echoed overhead, conversations hummed, and the steady shuffle of feet created a chaotic symphony. But for Cherry, everything felt distant, muffled, as if she were trapped in a bubble of emotions too heavy to bear.
She stood before the departure gate, her small suitcase by her side, hands clutching the strap of her worn-out bag. Her heart pounded against her ribs, each beat a painful reminder that this was real. She was leaving.
Turning to the one person she wasn't sure she could say goodbye to, she found Lena.
Her best friend. Her sister in everything but blood.
Lena stood still, arms crossed tightly over her chest, her lips pressed into a thin line. But her eyes—those sharp, protective eyes that always sparkled with mischief—were **damp.** Glassy. As if she were holding back a hurricane of emotions.
Cherry tried to force a smile, but it trembled at the edges. "You're going to miss me."
Lena let out a short, sharp laugh, shaking her head. "You're such a brat."
Cherry swallowed the lump in her throat. "You can say it, you know."
Lena raised an eyebrow. "Say what?"
"That you don't want me to go."
Silence stretched between them, a painful, suffocating silence.
Then, with a heavy exhale, Lena stepped closer. Her hands, usually so steady, trembled as she gripped Cherry's shoulders.
"Of course, I don't want you to go, idiot," she whispered, her voice cracking. "You're my best friend. You're my only family."
A sharp ache settled in Cherry's chest.
"Then tell me to stay," she murmured, her voice barely above a whisper.
Lena flinched. Her fingers curled tighter around Cherry, as if she wanted to hold her in place. As if she wanted to fight.
But she didn't.
Instead, she let out a shaky breath. "You think I wouldn't? That I don't want to grab you and drag you back home?"
Her voice was tight, her body tense.
"But I won't," she continued, softer this time.
Cherry's vision blurred. "Why?"
Lena exhaled sharply, tilting her forehead against Cherry's.
"Because I love you."
And in that moment, Cherry knew—Lena loved her enough to let her go.
Her breath hitched, and before she could stop herself, she threw her arms around Lena, clinging to her like a lifeline.
Lena hugged her back, her arms strong and fierce—a shield against the world, just like always.
For a moment, they stood there, two girls who had survived too much. Two girls who had held each other up through every heartbreak, every loss, every impossible choice.
But this was the first time Lena couldn't fix it.
The first time Cherry had to walk away.
Lena pulled back first, her face set with quiet determination, but her hands trembled as she reached into her coat pocket.
She pulled out something small, something cold and familiar.
Cherry's breath caught.
The ring.
The same ring she had tried so hard to forget.
Cherry stiffened. "Lena, I—"
"Take it," Lena said, her voice steady but low.
Cherry hesitated, staring at the small band of metal. A symbol of a night she had spent weeks trying to erase.
A reminder of the man who had vanished.
A reminder of the life growing inside her.
Her fingers shook as she took it, curling it into her palm.
Lena exhaled, nodding as if she were accepting something she wasn't ready to.
Cherry looked down at the ring, her vision blurred. Her lips parted, the words heavy. "I love you, Lena."
Lena let out a sharp breath, her voice breaking when she whispered, "I love you more."
The final boarding call echoed through the airport.
Cherry stepped back.
One step.
Then another.
Her heart pounded, each beat screaming at her to turn around, to stay.
But she didn't.
She turned, gripping the ring tightly, forcing her feet forward.
She reached the gate.
But before stepping through, she glanced back.
Lena stood there, arms wrapped around herself, her face red and swollen with unshed tears.
She wasn't moving.
She wasn't stopping her.
She was watching.
Because she had promised to support Cherry's decision—even if it was breaking her.
Cherry pressed a trembling hand to her stomach.
She exhaled.
Then, with a whisper of a goodbye that no one would ever hear, she stepped onto the plane.
Leaving behind everything she had ever known.
And stepping into a future unknown.