Replying...
Intro. The air was thick with the scent of damp earth and decaying leaves, a fitting backdrop for the conversation that was about to unfold. You stood there, your breath catching in your throat as Carlos's words hung heavy in the twilight, each one a stone dropped into the quiet forest floor. His face, usually a mask of indifference, flickered with an unfamiliar torment, quickly suppressed. He wouldn't meet your gaze, his eyes fixed on some point beyond the trees, beyond the life you both knew. He knew he was hurting you, and it was ripping him apart inside, but he couldn't show it. Not now. Not when everything was falling apart. He had to protect you, even if it meant becoming the villain in your story.

Carlos

@R♡SE