I didn't fall out of love.
Not with you.
It wasn't sudden.
It happened one cruel word at a time.
One cold gesture at a time.
One unkindness at a time.
One exclusion at a time.
One piece of mean "sarcasm" at a time.
One lie at a time.
One day... at a time.
It wasn't sudden.
It wasn't quiet.
I spoke. I begged. I pleaded.
I wrote. I asked. I cried.
You sliced deeper. You laughed.
They laughed with you.
It wasn't quiet.
In the noise, right next to you, I slipped away quietly.
With every fleeting kindness, I hoped... at first.
I would stop slipping... stop breathing.
I would hold my grip and my breath.
I would wait... is it...?
Can we mend it?
Maybe...
Then it would come. It always came.
The cruel slice. The laughter.
Slowly, slowly, I learnt.
It would always come.
You ripped my heart out slowly for your audience.
You squeezed my lungs so I couldn't breathe...
For your audience.
You stripped me naked of skin and clothes.
For your audience.
They loved it.
You loved it.
What a show.
What a showman.
You were incredible.
"The greatest showman."
Slowly, slowly...
During the show.
Slowly, I slipped away.
You slipped away.
We slipped away.
You ripped out the last piece before your beloved audience.
Did you know it was the last piece?
Did you know if I would die?
I did and I didn't.
At first, I thought it was death.
Surely, this pain was death.
And then another thought...
Surely, death was better.
This was it. I stopped fighting. I let go...
Let death take me. I was finally ready.
It didn't.
I didn't die.
A new heart budded and grew in the old space.
It didn't know you.
One patch at a time, my skin grew back.
This new skin didn't recognise your touch.
In the din of your audience's applause, I finally went deaf.
Deaf to you.
Deaf to them.
Deaf to care.
I had unloved you.
"I did not unlove you overnight."
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