I feel my cause is doomed. Sloane decided to arrive, therefore, Raven left. Sloane ultimately departed after an hour of fighting with me, leaving me to wonder if Raven would return. This may have been the tipping point for her. She made it quite clear that if Sloane persisted in interfering, she wouldn't fight. Raven means the world to me, but I won't let her go that easily. I love her and only her, so I call her. No answer; I decided to keep trying, and yet still no answer.

⁂

All morning and afternoon, I made calls to Logan, Brie, and Raven. It's been a bizarre day. Logan's car is parked in front of the girl's apartment building when I arrive there. After pulling up next to him, I go upstairs.

The door opens, and Brie says, "This isn't a good time." I explain that I want to talk to Raven, but she doesn't want to hear me.

"Bro, leave. As Brie said, right now isn't a good time, I'll explain when I can," Logan says.

"Please! I need to talk to her, I thought everything was good between us, but she keeps ignoring me." I say in a frantic voice.

"She doesn't want to talk to you right now," Brie says quietly.

"Maybe you can try getting her to call me?"

"Ha, I have a better chance at drying out one of the Great Lakes threw a straw, then tell her what to do." Brie stats.

I feel defeated. What are they hiding? Why doesn't she want to talk to me? I walk away. Once outside, I want to hear it from her, not them. I jump up onto her balcony and open the doors; she's startled by my presence.

"Why are you here?" She asks.

"I want to know why you're ignoring me."

She looks down and takes a deep breath. "What happened between us can never happen again. We need to stay away from each other," She says quietly.

I look at her, confused. I walk up to her, take her by her waist, and pull her close. "Are you sure? I can make you scream so loud that you'll forget why you don't want to be with me," She pushes me away despite my whispers into her ear, which I can hear making her heart race and feel her body break out in goosebumps.

"We can't, okay," She says with frustration. I don't understand what's happening; nothing is making sense. We were fine hours ago, what changed?

"Give me a reason, and I promise I will leave you alone!" I tell her.

She paces back and forth, not knowing what to say. "I found something out about myself today that I can't tell you about right now, so you need to go, it's hard to explain, but I have to do what's best for me" She looks down.

"What are you talking about? What about us and everything that has happened?" She grabs my hands and squeezes them tight. "I just need some space at this moment."

"So you want us to break up?" I stand there, trying to make sense of what she is saying. Why does she need space? Did I do something wrong? The uncertainty is overwhelming, and I can feel my heart racing. She looks at me with tears in her eyes and says, "It's not about breaking up, it's just that I need to figure things out for myself first." The confusion lingers as I try to process her words and understand what this means for our relationship. I can't help but wonder if this is the beginning of the end.

She exudes a mix of rage, confusion, sadness, and franticness. I try to comfort her while she screams at me to keep away. Before I know it, I'm on the ground, clutching my head, and screaming in pain. Brie and Logan barge into her room in a hurry. I can hear Raven sobbing and repeatedly saying "I'm sorry" through all the noise. Logan helps me up; I look at Raven.

"Who are you?" I ask, looking at the girl I thought I knew.

"Did it ever occur to you that I don't know who I am?" She barks, looking right at me with no emotion, nothing, like a switch in her brain has turned off. I grab the teddy bear I got and throw it on her bed. I opened up my heart to her, and she couldn't even give me an explanation.

⁂

I get home, with Logan following right behind. I can feel my blood boil with anger as my fist hits the wall.

"What the hell was that?" I scream at him, "What happened today to make her like that?"

"Clay, you need to calm down." He grabs a blood bag, hands it to me, and tells me he will call Brie quickly.

I sit back on the couch, trying to keep myself calm, but I can't help but take my foot and kick the glass coffee table, feeling the satisfaction of watching it shatter into pieces just like my heart. Finally, Logan comes back and shakes his head. He takes a seat and inhales before speaking. He explains everything in detail. I now see why she wants some distance from me—she's scared of harming me or fighting Sloane.

"You can't say anything. If this gets out, Raven could be in danger." Logan warns me.

"I promise, I want her safe. I care about her." Man, do I ever.

"Then you need to leave her be. When she is ready, she will tell you if she is ever ready to trust you with this." He states.

I'm at a loss for words—how am I supposed to avoid her? She fills every desire I didn't even realise I had. I want and need her. I'm sure she loves me just as much as I love her. She claimed to love me exactly as much as I do her. I can only wait, hoping she comes back to me.

I refuse to give up, and I refuse to give in; she's my everything.

Wishing I could go back in time, I would like to halt today's events. Even if it seems impossible, everything I do is for her. I will keep waiting, because I know in my heart that she is worth it.