Not Your Pathetic Ex Anymore

I spent seven years loving Nicole, putting her dreams before my own.

I promised her the world, believed she was my future.

Then, she chose him – Ryan, her volatile artist ex, the one who' d already broken her heart.

I died for that betrayal, a quiet overdose, a final pathetic act of devotion.

But then, I woke up.

Twenty-one again, sitting across from Nicole in a coffee shop, just before she was supposed to choose me.

The hesitation in her eyes, the yearning for him, it was all still there.

This time, I didn't beg.

I told her, "Go to him."

I walked out into the rain, leaving our painful past behind.

This time, I would live for myself.