Aera didn't go home.She told herself she would.She even walked halfway there before stopping at a turn she had taken a hundred times before..and then, without thinking, she went the other way.
The streets grew quieter as she walked, the noise of the main road fading into something distant and unimportant. The sky had started to dim, soft shades of evening settling in, but she barely noticed.
Her mind was too loud.
You don't let it exist at all.
She exhaled sharply, pressing her lips together.
"I'm not carrying anything."
She had said that so easily.
Too easily.
The problem wasn't that she was lying.
The problem was that she had believed it.
Her steps slowed as she reached a small park, one she rarely paid attention to before. It wasn't anything special..just a few benches, a quiet walking path, and a swing set that creaked faintly whenever the wind picked up.
It was empty.
Aera sat down on one of the benches, her hands resting in her lap, fingers loosely intertwined.
For a moment, she did nothing.
No distractions.No movement.No noise.
And then her thoughts caught up to her.
It started small.
A memory she didn't mean to revisit.
A classroom.
A younger version of herself, sitting in the front row, her notebook perfectly organized, her answers always ready before anyone else even raised their hand.
"Perfect, as always."
The teacher's voice.
The class turning to look at her.
Not with admiration.
With expectation.
The memory shifted.
Her parents' voices, softer but just as certain.
"You're strong, Aera. You always handle things well."
Another shift.
Her friend, laughing lightly.
"You don't even get stressed, do you?"
Aera let out a quiet breath, her fingers tightening slightly.
They weren't wrong.That was the problem.
She had handled everything.She had stayed strong.She had kept everything together.And somewhere along the way..she had stopped knowing how not to.
Aera leaned forward slightly, her elbows resting on her knees, her gaze fixed on the ground.
"When did it start feeling like this?"
She didn't realize she had said it out loud until the words were already there.
"Tiring?"
The voice came gently.
Aera's breath caught slightly.
She didn't need to turn to know who it was.
Still..she did.
He stood a few steps away.
The gentle one.
There was something different about him in this moment. Not just his presence, but the way he looked at her not observing, not analyzing.
Just… understanding.
"I didn't say that," Aera replied.
"You didn't have to."
That answer should have annoyed her.
It didn't.
Instead, it made something tighten in her chest.
"I'm fine," she said, more firmly this time.
He didn't argue.
He didn't correct her.
He just walked closer and sat down beside her, leaving enough space so it didn't feel intrusive.For a few seconds, neither of them spoke.
The silence wasn't heavy.But it wasn't empty either.
"You don't have to keep saying that," he said quietly.
Aera let out a small, almost humorless laugh.
"It's easier."
"I know."
That made her look at him.
"You do?"
He nodded slightly.
Aera studied him for a moment, something unreadable passing through her expression.
"You all keep saying things like you understand," she said. "But you don't know anything about me."
"That's true," he admitted.
The honesty caught her off guard.
"But I know what it looks like," he added. "When someone is used to holding everything in."
Aera looked away again.
"That doesn't mean I am."
"No," he said softly. "It just means you've gotten very good at it."
Something in her chest shifted again.
She hated that.
Not him.
The fact that he wasn't wrong.
"I don't see the point," she said after a moment.
"In what?"
"In… talking about things that don't change anything."
He was quiet for a second, then asked, "What if they do?"
Aera shook her head slightly. "They don't. It just makes everything harder."
"How?"
She hesitated.
Because she knew the answer.
"If you say it out loud," she said slowly, "you can't ignore it anymore."
There it was.
Clear.
Real.
He didn't respond immediately.
Instead, he looked ahead, his gaze soft but distant, like he was thinking about something beyond the moment.
"You're not wrong," he said eventually.
Aera frowned slightly.
"But ignoring it doesn't make it disappear either," he continued.
That hit deeper than she expected.
Her grip tightened slightly against her own hands.
"I'm not ignoring anything," she said, but her voice wasn't as steady this time.
He didn't push.
He didn't argue.
He just said "Then why does it still feel heavy?"
The question landed quietly.
But it didn't leave.
Aera stared at the ground, her thoughts suddenly louder than before.
Because it did feel heavy.
All the time.
She had just… stopped noticing it.
Or convinced herself she had.
"I don't" she started, but the words didn't come out.
Her throat felt tight.
Her chest felt tighter.
And suddenly she was aware of everything at once.
The expectations.The constant need to be "fine."The way she avoided questions.The way she never let anything slip.
It was too much.
Aera inhaled sharply, like she had forgotten how to breathe properly.
"Hey"
His voice softened slightly, closer now.
"You're okay."
She shook her head quickly.
"I am," she said, but it came out uneven.
Her vision blurred slightly.
That was new.
Aera blinked rapidly, her hand instinctively rising to her face.
No.
Not here.
Not now.
She stood up too quickly.
"I need to go."
But before she could take a step..
"Wait."
His voice wasn't loud.
But it stopped her.
Aera froze.
"You don't have to run from it," he said gently.
"I'm not running," she replied quickly.
"You are."
That did it.
Aera turned back, something sharp breaking through her composure for the first time.
"You don't know anything," she said, her voice trembling slightly..not from anger, but from something she couldn't control. "You don't know what it's like to have people expect things from you all the time. To always be the one who has everything together."
He didn't interrupt.
"To never have space to just.." she stopped, her voice catching. "..to just not be okay."
Silence followed.
Real silence.
The kind that didn't need to be filled.
Aera's breathing was uneven now, her control slipping in small, undeniable ways.
"I can't just… fall apart," she said more quietly. "That's not how it works."
He stood up slowly.
"You don't have to fall apart," he said.
Aera shook her head.
"You don't get it."
"Then help me understand."The words were simple.But something about them broke through.Because no one had ever said that to her before.
Not like that.
Not without assumptions.
Not without expectations.
Just.."help me understand."
Aera's composure cracked.
Not loudly.
Not dramatically.
Just enough.
Her shoulders dropped slightly.
Her breath hitched.
And before she could stop it
a tear slipped down.
She froze.
Like she didn't recognize it.
Like it didn't belong to her.
"I don't…" she whispered, her voice unsteady now. "I don't even know what's wrong."He stepped closer.
Not too close.
Just enough.
"That's okay," he said softly.
Aera shook her head again, more urgently this time.
"It's not," she said. "Because if I don't know, I can't fix it."
"You don't have to fix everything."
"I do."
The answer came immediately.
Without hesitation.
Without thought.
And that said everything.
He watched her for a moment, something shifting in his expression.
Then, quietly "You're allowed to feel it," he said.
Aera closed her eyes tightly, her grip on herself loosening just enough for everything she had been holding back to surface all at once.
And then..
the world shifted.
Not around her.
But Inside.
The air felt different again, softer, quieter.The noise of the outside world faded into the background, leaving behind something calmer.
Aera's breathing slowed, just slightly.She didn't notice when it happened.But she felt it.That same lightness.That same quiet space she had felt before.This timestronger.
She opened her eyes slowly.And realized he wasn't the only one there anymore.The others stood at a distance, watching.
Not interfering.
Just… present.
Aera's chest tightened again, but not in the same way as before.
"What are you doing?" she asked quietly.
No one answered.
But she already knew.
This wasn't just a conversation.
This was something else.
Something deeper.
Something she wasn't supposed to be part of.
And yet she was.
Her gaze shifted back to him.
"You said you don't put anything into people," she said.
He nodded.
"So why does it feel like you are?"
For the first time he hesitated.And that was enough.Aera's breath caught slightly.Because that meant..this wasn't supposed to happen.
🌑 End of Chapter 8