Ella watched Aries the way you only start watching someone when your heart is already tired.
He leaned back on the chair, scrolling on his phone while she spoke.
"…did you even hear what I said?" she asked softly.
Aries smirked. "Relax. You talk too much anyway."
She went quiet.
And in that silence, something finally clicked.
Not suddenly.
Not dramatically.
Just… clearly.
She saw it.
The way he decided when she was allowed to be upset.
The way he pulled her close only when it suited him.
The way she always adjusted herself to keep him comfortable.
Ella realized, slowly and painfully—
Aries didn't love her.
He controlled her.
She was in his fingers.
And she knew it.
That night, when he told her, "If you really cared about me, you wouldn't hang around those people,"
Ella didn't argue.
She didn't cry.
She simply looked at him and thought,
You're using me.
And for the first time…
She believed herself more than she believed him.
—
Jay's story was different.
And somehow…
That made it worse.
Because Keifer never tried to pull Jay away.
He never told her who to talk to.
Never told her what to do.
Never asked her to choose him.
After Yuri told her to ignore Keifer…
Keifer didn't chase.
He didn't corner her in the hallway.
He didn't demand explanations.
He didn't fight for a place in her life.
He just… stopped.
Not because he didn't care.
But because he cared in the only way he knew how.
By respecting the wall she put up.
Jay noticed that too.
The empty space where his voice used to be.
The way he no longer waited for her after class.
The way he stopped looking for her in crowded rooms.
Ella saw control.
Jay saw absence.
And both of them understood the truth at the same time—
Some people hold you too tightly.
And some people let you go…
Even when it hurts them more than losing you.