The silence that followed Sarah's words felt unbearable, stretching out like a heavy fog. Nathan stood motionless, his body stiff, his mind racing to process everything she had just said. He couldn't breathe. The weight of her confession hit him like a tidal wave, crashing over him, drowning him in the aftermath of everything he had never known.
"I don't know anymore," Sarah had whispered, her voice so small, so fragile, that Nathan could barely hear it over the thudding of his heart in his chest. But those words—those words had shattered something deep within him.
He looked at her, his eyes searching for some kind of explanation, some kind of clarity, but there was nothing. Her eyes were filled with confusion and pain, and he realized, in that moment, that she was as lost as he was. Maybe even more so.
But how could she be? She had always known what she wanted. Hadn't she? How could she not know now?
Nathan's gaze shifted to Lewis, standing across from him, his own face a mask of anger and hurt. For a moment, the world seemed to narrow, until it was just the two of them—brothers who had shared so much and lost it all. The tension between them was palpable, thick with years of unspoken resentments and buried secrets.
Lewis took a step toward Nathan, his face twisted in a mixture of frustration and something darker. "You think you've won, don't you? Just because she said she doesn't know anymore, you think you've won. But you're wrong. She's not going to choose you. Not now. Not ever."
Nathan's breath caught in his throat. His pulse surged. He wanted to lash out, to fight back, but something held him back—something deeper than just the anger. He was tired. Tired of fighting. Tired of pretending that things could go back to the way they were before. But most of all, he was tired of losing.
"Lewis, stop," Sarah said, her voice trembling. She had stood up now, but her presence felt distant, like a ghost drifting between them. "This isn't helping. All we're doing is hurting each other."
Her words cut through the tension, but they didn't dissolve it. Nathan could feel the battle for her love—her affection—still raging in the air, thick and suffocating. He was caught in the middle, unable to escape, and it felt like a slow suffocation.
"You're right," Nathan said quietly, his voice raw. "This isn't helping. But you need to understand, Lewis—I can't keep pretending. I can't keep standing by and watching her slip away from me, especially when I know how I feel. When I know what's been between us, all these years."
Lewis's jaw tightened, his eyes narrowing. "What's been between you two? You think she hasn't hurt me? You think she hasn't betrayed me?"
Nathan's stomach turned at the venom in his brother's voice. "I'm not the one who betrayed you, Lewis. We're both at fault here, but it's not just about who's right or wrong. It's about Sarah. It's about her choosing what she wants."
Sarah flinched, and Nathan's heart broke for her. She had always been the quiet anchor between them, the one who held them together even when their paths were on the brink of tearing apart. But now, it seemed like the storm that had been brewing for so long was finally breaking through.
"I never meant to hurt either of you," Sarah said softly, her voice breaking. "But I don't know what to do anymore. I've lost myself in all of this. And I don't want to lose you both, but I feel like that's exactly what's happening."
Nathan's heart clenched in his chest. He had always known she was torn, that she was struggling with her own feelings, but hearing her admit it out loud hurt more than he could ever have prepared for. It wasn't just about their past anymore. It was about their futures—the lives they would build or destroy, depending on the choices they made now.
But as he looked at her, Nathan realized something. He couldn't keep fighting for her, not when she wasn't sure what she wanted. Not when he had no guarantee that the love he had waited so long for would ever be returned.
And yet, even with all the pain and confusion between them, he couldn't walk away.
"Sarah," he said, his voice barely a whisper. "I don't want to lose you. But I can't keep pretending everything is okay when it's not. I need space to figure out what this is. What you want from me. What we want from each other."
She nodded slowly, her eyes brimming with unshed tears. "I understand. I just... I don't know if I can give you that space. Not when all I want is for us to be okay again."
Nathan stood, his chair scraping against the floor. The weight of the decision felt too heavy to bear, but there was no going back now. "I'm going to step away, Sarah. For a while. I need to clear my head. I need to stop pretending I can fix something that might be beyond repair."
He turned to Lewis, his voice hardening. "And you need to figure out what you want, too. Because this... whatever this is between the three of us... it can't go on like this."
Lewis didn't answer, but Nathan didn't expect him to. Instead, he watched his brother's face, etched with frustration and defeat, and knew that things would never be the same again. Their bond was fractured—shattered beyond repair by jealousy, love, and the weight of choices none of them could escape.
As Nathan stepped out of the café, the night air felt colder than before. The city around him seemed so alive, yet he felt more alone than he ever had. He wasn't sure what the future held or if Sarah would ever return to him, but one thing was certain: he couldn't keep waiting for a love that wasn't sure.
And in the back of his mind, one painful thought lingered: had he already lost her for good?
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