Gemotions

"I'm going to miss you," he said, the words forced and clunky. The words felt like a lie. They sat on the stoop, bathed in the amber glow of the setting sun. Leo had watched Maya excitedly plan her new life with her boyfriend, a new life that didn't include him. He’d known, of course, but the knowledge had been a vague, abstract concept until this very moment. Now, the stark reality of the distance, the physical separation, hit him with brutal force.

He should have been more involved. He had been so consumed by his own woes that he'd failed to notice the subtle signs, the growing distance between them. Now, there was a chasm, and he knew he had dug it with his indifference.

He kicked at a pebble, the silence between them amplifying the ache inside him. He felt as if he had failed.