HER HEART TURNED TO LEAD, a sinking anchor plummeting through her being, dragging her insides to the pit of her stomach as Theo's words cut through the air, a harbinger of the storm that was about to break inside her.

"I love you."

What?

It's not true.
Tell me you're lying.

What the fuck?

Oh God.

Take it back. Take it back.

Tell me it's a joke, tell me you were trying to make me laugh...

The room seemed to close in on her, walls pressing against her chest as if they, too, wanted to stifle the words that hung in the air. Theo's eyes bore into hers, their intensity like a spotlight, illuminating every crack in her carefully constructed façade.

Outside, the rain tapped insistently against the windowpane, a relentless rhythm that mirrored the turmoil within her. She hadn't even realized it had started to rain...

 She had always loved the rain—the way it washed away the grime of the city, the way it whispered secrets to those who listened. But today, it felt like a cruel accomplice, conspiring with Theo to unravel her defenses.

His lips moved, forming syllables that cut through her like shards of glass. She tried to focus on the shapes they made, tried to decipher their meaning, but her mind was a tempest of emotions. Fear, anger, longing—they churned together, a maelstrom threatening to pull her under.

Theo's hand reached out, fingers brushing against her cheek. It was a gentle touch, but it seared her skin, leaving an indelible mark. She wanted to lean into it, to seek solace in the warmth of his palm, but she couldn't. Not after what he'd said.

"Lia," he whispered, and the sound of her name was a blade against her heart. "I never meant for any of this to happen."

She wanted to scream at him, to demand answers, but her voice was trapped in her throat. Instead, she clenched her fists, nails digging into her palms. The room blurred around her, edges softened by unshed tears.

"Why?" The word escaped in a breathless rasp. "Why now, Theo?"

His eyes held hers, and for a moment, she glimpsed the storm raging within him. 

Regret, regret so deep it threatened to swallow them both. "Because," he said, voice raw, "sometimes the timing is all wrong. Sometimes love arrives like a hurricane, tearing apart everything in its path."

Her heart clenched. Love. The word hung there, heavy and fragile, suspended between them. She had never expected it, never dared to hope for it. But now, it was a truth she couldn't deny.

Theo stepped closer, and suddenly, the room was too small, too confining. She could smell the soft scent of the bubbles on his skin, feel the heat radiating from his body. His thumb traced the curve of her lower lip, and she shivered.

Time chose that moment to freeze, leaving Ophelia trapped between the wall of the pool, and her boyfriend, whose eyes stared into hers with endless love. She had seen Theo stare at her like that before, many times, but she never knew what that raw tenderness was.

Now she knew.

It was love.

He was in love. 

"Wh-what?" Ophelia whispered hoarsely, eyes widening, afraid to believe he had said those three little words.

Take them back. Please don't let anything change today.

You didn't mean to say—

"I love you," Theo repeated earnestly, caging her in his arms protectively. "I know we've only been dating a short while, but Lia, I.... My love for you is as boundless as the sky, as deep as the ocean, and as enduring as the stars that embroider the velvet tapestry of the universe. You make me a better person, you make me want to live." 

There were sudden tears spilling down her cheeks, on hearing his words, on feeling the unrestrained emotion he spoke with.

On hearing the poetic divulgence from his lips, and the way he looked at her like she was the only girl on earth. 

And the way she looked at him with tear-filled eyes, lower lip jutted out into a pout, silently begging him to take it back.

Silently pleading that he was joking.

Because she felt pressured to say it back.

The tears came unbidden, a silent testament to the raw ache that had cracked open inside her. They traced hot paths down her cheeks, each one a wordless echo of the pain and passion that Theo's confession had stirred within her. The dam had broken, and with it, the floodgates of her heart had flung wide open, releasing a torrent of emotions she could no longer contain.

Her breath hitched, a fragile sound lost amidst the symphony of the storm outside. The room was a blur, a watercolor painting washed in sorrow and the soft glow of the lamp that flickered like a beacon in the tempest of her soul.

Theo's face, etched with concern, hovered before her—a lighthouse in the dark sea of her despair. His hands, tentative and unsure, reached out to cup her face, thumbs wiping away the trails of her grief. But the touch only served to release more tears, as if his kindness were a key unlocking chambers of her heart she had long since sealed shut.

"I didn't mean to hurt you," he whispered, his voice a low rumble against the thunder that rumbled outside. "I never wanted to be the reason for your tears."

But his words, though meant to comfort, only served to remind her of the chasm that had opened up between them—a gap that seemed as vast and insurmountable as the night sky. How could she bridge the distance when every step felt like walking on shards of glass?

She looked up at him, eyes glistening with the remnants of her storm. "Then why?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper. "Why stir the waters if you knew the tide was too strong?"

Theo's gaze held hers, steady and unwavering. "Because sometimes," he said, his voice steady despite the emotion she saw swirling in his eyes, "the heart doesn't heed warnings. It plunges headfirst into the depths, chasing after something it can't explain or understand."

And Ophelia, who was well versed in the language of confessing at the wrong time, knew. She understood.

She felt his breath on her skin, warm and alive, a stark contrast to the cold fear that had settled in her bones. In that moment, she realized that their hearts were two ships adrift, caught in the same storm, yet sailing towards different horizons.

And as the silence stretched between them, filled only by the sound of the rain and their shared breaths, she knew that no matter how fierce the storm, some things were worth weathering the winds for.

Her breathing quickened, her tongue felt tied, like it was glued permanently to the roof of her mouth, preventing her from saying another word.

"Th-theo, I..."

"Lia, you don't have to say it back," Theo murmured, his eyes widening as his hands moved to cup her face, looking into her eyes, and the tears only fell faster when she saw the heartbreak through his eyes, despite the smile he was trying so hard to wear.

"No, Theo... It's... it's only been a few weeks, and—"

"I know," Theo kissed her forehead. "Don't pressure yourself to say it back, baby. I know. I shouldn't have told you so early..."

"No, Theo," Ophelia breathed, a small sob leaving her. "I.. I really care about you, I'm just not sure I'm completely—"

"I know, baby," Theo whispered, holding her tightly, close to his chest, lips pressed against her wet hair. "I know. I'm sorry," he murmured, and his lips brushed hers. 

It was a kiss of desperation, of promises unspoken. She tasted salt—the remnants of tears, or maybe the bath salts. She didn't know anymore.

As he pulled away, leaving her breathless and wanting, she realized that this was the eye of the storm. The calm before the chaos. And she had a choice to make: cling to the wreckage or let go, surrender to the tempest that threatened to consume them both.

Ophelia only sobbed harder, before trembling slightly, unable to shake off the guilt she felt for not having the same feelings for him.

Hating herself for the way she couldn't say it back.

Her feelings for him ran deep, but Ophelia wasn't in love with him.

Unable to see the heartbreak in his eyes anymore, the blonde knew she needed to get away from there, and fast.

Before she did something she would forever regret.

If she stayed there any longer, she would end up breaking his heart.

She would end up losing him.

She would end up yelling at him for feeling the way he felt.

And judging by what Ophelia knew from experience, one couldn't choose who they fell in love with. 

She couldn't blame Theo.

She was swamped in panic, sinking into quicksand of trepidation as a thousand hands pulled her deeper into the sensational anxiety, dragging her down further into the realms of perturbation. 

She couldn't breathe, the hysteria filled her nostrils and entered her mouth, slowly filling every empty space within her body, using it as an empty vessel.

Her heartbeat pounded in her ears, the soothing sounds of the water sloshing in the pool ebbed away when her head filled itself with her echoing heartbeat.

"I have to go," Ophelia finally muttered, climbing out of the pool without another glance at Theo's expression.

She couldn't look at him.

She couldn't.

"Lia, don't go," Theo pleaded softly. "You can just ignore I said it..."

"I need to think..." was all she said, putting on her clothes without bothering to properly dry off, buttoning her shirt with shaky fingers, like she couldn't get out of there fast enough.

The tears still streamed down her cheeks destructively, with no intention of ever stopping, and her teeth sunk into her lower lip to refrain from letting out sobs that she knew would break Theo if he ever heard them.

Without even sparing him another glance, or explaining herself even a little, Ophelia shut the door of the prefects bathroom behind her.

But even though she had physically gotten away from him, it was cognitively, spiritually, emotionally impossible to get away from him in her mind.

The smile that he gave me, even when he felt like dying... When I never said it back.

And the blonde closed her eyes and let the tears fall down her cheeks, letting her legs carry her as fast as they could.

Trying to outrun the image of Theo in her head when she didn't say it back.

Trying to run away from the agony that overflowed her mind.

But it was hard to escape the rain in her mind.

Indeed, the hardest prison to escape from is the mind.

And God knows, there is no harsher prison that the confines of the mind.

The world around her continued its indifferent spin, oblivious to the seismic shift that had occurred in the silent chambers of her soul. But for her, everything had changed. The lines between reality and illusion had blurred, and she found herself standing in the eye of a revelation so profound it threatened to upend her very being.

Because somewhere, somehow, the thing that had been nothing more than a dream, a fantasy, a false, delusional romance had become real.

{ hey everyone !! y'all are really, really gonna hate me for the following chapters.. you can't blame ophelia for not saying it, she and theo have only been going out for a very short while... 
p.s: listen to i love you, billie eilish for this chapter.
anyway, please, please vote, comment and follow!! sign the petition on my message board to stop the removal of private messaging on wattpad, and don't forget to share it..
socials are in my bio. follow me if you love me, and do lmk who you are !!
350 votes for the next chapter.
so i was going to update only after reaching the targeted amount of votes. but. today is ophelia's birthday, the 24th of april... she should be turning 43 today :') aww my baby...
in honor of this day, i want to update a bonus chapter THAT DOES NOT FOLLOW THE PLOT... let me know what ideas you have for me to write. it could be an alternate universe, a scene from the past, future, etc.... AKA, i'm taking requests. the idea that's most common is the one i shall write about and update : )
anyway, hope you enjoy this... i love all of you guys so much !! tell me if i should create a discord server for this book... 
anyway, take care, love you all so, so much.
love, jasmine. xoxo }

{ APR 24. 2024 }