Fix by Erioluwa Shodayo

“I love you,” he said looking her in the eyes. The same eyes he had once said bring out a part of him he didn’t know existed. “I promise I’m not lying.”

A stray tear found its way down her cheek. She wanted to believe him. But all her life, no one aside her family had ever showed a bit of care. She was never accepted. Her flaws were all she was allowed to see; why she never fit in from the start. She was a Rubik’s cube. An enigma. Never understood, yet always judged.

She had reached the peak of her pain. And then he came along. He, who always brought a smile to her face without trying. He, who made her flaws seem like the most beautiful of things. He, who showed her what care felt like outside her family. He, to whom she would eternally be grateful.

But she had never been brave. She was never one to take chances and now she was faced with two option. She could take a risk for the first time and possibly experience one of the most beautiful things life has to offer. Or she could hide from her fears and go back to just existing and not truly living.

No one could deny the fact that he showed up in her life and she started to experience life from a whole new angle. Walking away from him now meant letting all that go, retreating into her former shell. She knew how she felt. She knew what she felt. She had known since that day they bumped into each other. It was up to her to define what her own joy would be.

“Please just let me in,” he squeezed her hand. Her silence was too loud for him. He had learnt to find absolute beauty in her brokenness and he couldn’t let that go.