Fragments of You

Chapter One

Paisley

DEAR NASH,

It’s been two years since you left.

Two years since I’ve heard your laugh or seen your smile. Since I’ve looked into those sky-blue eyes—the ones that once held the promise of a future I now know I’ll never have with you. Two years since I’ve been writing you letters I will never send, trying to find a way to move on.

Even after all this time, I still struggle trying to understand why. Why did you leave? Why didn’t you take me with you? Why did you leave me behind as if I meant nothing? As if we meant nothing. For years, you were my life. My best friend... and then, more. You taught me how to climb my first tree. How to swim. How to drive a stick shift. How to kiss. How to love. How to live... My world began and ended with you. And then, one day, you were gone, just like that.

It’s taken me far too long to find peace with your decision, or at least a semblance of peace anyway. It didn’t happen the way I expected, but little by little, I found my way without you. And even though there are fragments of you stained on my heart that I will never be able to scrub clean, I’m ready to let you go now.

So this will be my final letter. Even though you will never read it, I needed to write it. To tell you, or rather myself, that it’s okay. That I forgive you. And that one day, I hope you find the peace I couldn’t give you.

I will love you until my last breath.

Paisley