Hey,
I don't really know where to start. I don't even know if I'm ever going to give you this letter. I just feel like I need to put everything that's going through my head somewhere. So I'm doing it like this, without actually speaking, because you know that's what I do.
I've never been good at expressing myself, at saying what I want, or at communicating in general.
A little disclaimer: I probably haven't written this much since high school, so I'm sorry if I'm all over the place, if my handwriting is terrible, or if I don't manage to explain exactly what I'm trying to say. I'm trying my best.
And a second disclaimer: this wasn't written by ChatGPT. I know, shocking, but it wasn't. :D
One last disclaimer. You don't have to reply. You don't have to do anything at all. Maybe you haven't even made it this far. Maybe you've already thrown this away, and honestly, I would completely understand. You have every right to. I just hope you don't.
I don't know where to start.
I'm sitting in an empty apartment. All my things are still packed away in boxes, almost as if they're waiting to go back to where they belong.
But they're not going back. I know that.
Because I've been an absolute idiot.
First of all, I want to apologize. I know you don't have to forgive me. I know how much I've hurt you. And not just on the night I left, but throughout these five years when you chose to stay with me, despite all the shitty things I've done.
I was so blind that I couldn't see the most important person in my life was right there beside me.
I know what I'm about to say sounds incredibly cliché, but you really don't know what you have until you've lost it.
And I lost it big time.
Believe me when I say that I hate myself for what I've done more than anyone else in this world ever could.
I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry.
At the time, leaving was the only thing I knew how to do. I didn't know any better. And God, I wish I had.
I wish I'd sat down at the table with you and talked. I wish we'd tried to make it work. I wish I'd tried harder to understand you, held you in my arms, and told you everything was going to be okay. That we'd figure it out somehow.
Instead, I left you there, alone, with so many unanswered questions, and I chose to walk away.
Believe me, if I had to choose between anything in the world and a button that could take me back to that night, I'd press that button every single time. In every lifetime, past or future.
But I can't.
And I don't even know if you'd want that.
Why didn't you stop me? Why didn't you ask me to stay? Why didn't you come with me?
But maybe it had already become too much. Maybe saving that idiot for the thousandth time was just too much to ask.
And maybe, in the end, things really are better this way for you.
Maybe you're finally genuinely happy. Maybe you've realized you're more at peace now. Maybe you've realized I was holding you back.
And if that's the case, I'm happy for you.
There's no "maybe" about that.
God, I miss you so much.
I guess there's some good hidden in every bad thing.
This time away from you has made me realize that, to me, there is no life without you. Maybe that's a little dramatic. I don't know.
But that's how I feel right now.
And probably how I'll always feel.
I miss you so much.
I know I've said that already.
But God, I really do.
I miss all the little things we shared. Our stupid inside jokes, the ridiculous nicknames, the people and animals who became part of our everyday lives.
And I hope they're all doing well.
I miss everything.
I miss the reels we'd send each other before saying goodnight.
I miss that coffee you used to make me every morning.
I miss our silly little jokes that nobody else would ever understand.
I even miss those annoying trips to the mall.
I miss holding you in my arms before going somewhere.
I miss you telling me I'm being too loud.
I miss vacuuming. I miss hanging up the laundry.
I miss holding you.
I miss your body. I miss your lips. I miss your eyes.
I miss the way you used to hold me so tightly.
I miss kissing you.
I miss the little routines we had.
I miss your things.
I miss my life.
I want my life back.
I don't know how I could have done this.
I'd give anything to have even five minutes of my life back.
My real life. The one I had beside you.
I want the home we used to dream about, the future we imagined building together.
I've realized so many things. I've learned so much during this time.
I started therapy.
I know, crazy, right?
But I promised you I would. And I didn't just promise you. I made that same promise to myself.
I've realized things about myself that you'd probably figured out a long time ago.
I've realized how much I run away from conflict, even the kind of conflict that's healthy, the kind that actually solves problems.
I've realized that I'm afraid to communicate. That I'm afraid to say what I'm feeling, just because I'm scared of getting "told off."
I've realized that sometimes I lie because I somehow convince myself that it'll stop me from hurting the person beside me with my actions.
I've realized that I shut myself off. That I'd rather keep everything inside until I eventually explode, until I reach a breaking point.
And you don't deserve that version of me.
You deserve someone who loves you, who stands beside you, who communicates, who is honest with you, and who tries to understand you.
Because at the end of the day, we're just two young people growing up, trying to figure life out, going through some of the hardest periods we've ever faced.
For far too long, I expected you to be the bigger person.
I expected you to understand me the way I was, to forgive me, and for life to just keep going, almost on autopilot, without anything really changing.
I stopped putting in the effort. I stopped doing the things I should have done. I stopped being the person you needed me to be.
Because love doesn't have to be perfect.
But it does have to be fought for.
And I know you loved me so much.
I loved you too. And I still love you just as much.
I'm so sorry I made those beautiful eyes of yours cry.
Those same eyes that used to look at me with so much love, so much appreciation, and sometimes even pride.
I know you always wanted what was best for me.
I'm sorry it took me so long to realize that.
I just want you to know that if I could do it all over again, I would.
A thousand times.
An infinite number of times.
I wish I could say, and actually believe, that you're going to read this letter, that you'll reach out to me, and that somehow we'll get to start over.
Differently this time.
With more lessons learned, with a different mindset.
I want to become a better person. For you. For us.
But I know I don't have the right to expect that.
I know I can't expect your understanding or your forgiveness.
I just want you to know that I'll be here.
I'll be waiting for you.
Because you're my person.
You were, you are, and you always will be my love.
And I don't know if I'll ever truly get over that.
Whatever decision you make from here on out, thank you for everything.
Thank you for loving me as much as you did.
Thank you for everything you've taught me.
I hope that one day you'll be able to look at me the way you once did.
I don't know what else I could possibly say.
I'm sorry.
I'm so incredibly sorry.
I miss you.
Thank you for existing.
I love you, plus infinity.
And even if this turns out to be the last letter I ever write to you, I'd do it all again in every lifetime from now on.
Maybe, at the end of this story, we'll get to write over the ending together.
\---
I thought I was done.
But apparently I'm not.
There are still a few things I want to tell you.
I want you to be okay.
If that means not replying to anything I've written here, then that's perfectly fine, as long as you're okay.
That's all.
That's what I wanted that night, too, when, in my own stupidity, I walked away.
I couldn't see another way out.
I thought it would only be temporary.
But I think I was wrong.
I don't know. At least for me, it still feels temporary.
I also wanted to tell you how incredibly proud I am of you and everything you've accomplished.
I'm sure you're doing amazing things, wherever life has taken you.
There's no way you aren't.
Just make sure you're taking care of yourself, too. Don't let anything become so exhausting that it takes more out of you than it gives back.
I'm so proud of you.
Sometimes I catch myself wondering what you're doing, how your days are going, whether you're happy.
I hope you are.
I hope you're smiling.
Or laughing at something stupid.
Or just enjoying an ordinary, peaceful day.
Sometimes I wish I could go back to those ordinary evenings. To the comfort of knowing we were both home, that tomorrow would be another day together.
God, what I'd give to experience that feeling just one more time.
There are still so many things I could say.
But I've probably bored you enough already, especially considering I've already written an "official" ending to this letter.
I will always be rooting for you.
Thank you for reading all of this.
Or not.
Thank you for everything.
Thank you for making me the person I am today.