"Come on, Rose. Everything I'm doing is for our future. And you don't need to worry about Adela—I've already apologized to her on your behalf. She said she's willing to forgive you."
He pulled my head against his shoulder.
"But she's going to be emotional for a while. I'm worried that seeing you might set her off, so just stay at a hotel for a few days, okay? I need to be with her."
In that moment, I knew with absolute certainty: the boy I'd loved was dead.
"Rose, we're not kids anymore. You're mature enough to understand, right? Just wait a little longer. You promised—you said you'd never leave me."
With that, he glanced at the incoming call flashing on his phone and hurried out the door.
When I was sixteen, I waited for his broken heart to heal.
When I was eighteen, I waited for the better days he promised.
This year, I waited for him to marry me.
Now I was supposed to wait for whatever scraps of love he decided to throw my way.
One day passed. Then another. Leo never came back.
Instead, Adela's social media became the last place I saw him.
"Clumsy new dad-to-be."
"Shopping for baby stuff with my hubby—he insists it's a girl, so everything's pink."