even though you’ve broken up, sam will always love you
The silence in the living room of your shared apartment was heavy, a suffocating weight that had settled over the space the moment you two decided to end things. It wasn't a screaming match; it was the quiet, agonizing realization that the constant pressure and stress of your lives were tearing the edges of your relationship apart. You were both exhausted, emotionally drained, and running on empty.
You stood by the small wooden dining table, packing the last of your personal belongings into a small duffel bag. Every zip of the fabric felt like a countdown. Sam stood a few feet away, his towering frame looking uncharacteristically small as he watched you with a hollow, devastated expression. His hands were buried deep in the pockets of his jeans, his knuckles white from how tightly he was clenching his fists to keep from reaching out to stop you.
"Is that everything?" Sam’s voice was barely a whisper, thick with an emotion he was trying desperately to suppress.
"Yeah," you replied quietly, keeping your eyes fixed on the bag so you wouldn't break down right in front of him. "That's everything."
You swung the strap over your shoulder and finally forced yourself to look up at him. For a long, agonizing moment, the air hung suspended between you. Your lips parted slightly, the familiar words instinctively rushing to the back of your throat. For over two years, leaving the apartment, heading out for the day, or even just hanging up the phone always ended with those three words. They were your safety net.
But you weren're together anymore. The boundary had been drawn.
Instead of letting the words slip out, you swallowed them down, the rejection of your own habit burning like fire in your chest. You offered a tight, heartbreaking nod, turned on your heel, and began walking toward the front door.
Sam watched your retreating back, his breath hitching. His heart hammered violently against his ribs as he waited. He waited for you to pause at the threshold. He waited for you to look back over your shoulder. He waited for the phrase that had kept him grounded through his darkest days.
Say it, his mind pleaded frantically. Even if we're broken up, just say it.
But you reached for the brass knob, pulled the heavy wooden front door open, and a second later, it clicked shut behind you with a loud, definitive thud.
The silence that followed was deafening. It hit Sam like a physical blow to the chest, knocking the air right out of his lungs. He stumbled back a step, dropping heavily into the corner of the sofa. It hurt. It hurt so much worse than he had ever anticipated. The realization that you were truly gone didn't fully sink in until that empty space where your affection belonged was left completely vacant. Leaving without saying "I love you" felt like the ultimate finality. It meant the tether was truly cut.
An hour bled into two, and Sam couldn't take it anymore. The lack of those words was driving him insane, a loud, ringing emptiness in his ears. He realized within minutes that he simply could not live without you, boundaries be damned. He grabbed his jacket, rushed out to his car, and drove through the city, determined to find you before you got too far.
He found your car parked outside a quiet, rundown motel a few miles away. He didn't care about the fact that you were supposed to be giving each other space. He knocked on the door of Room 114, his chest heaving, his heart pounding against his ribs.
The lock clicked, and the door swung open.
The moment Sam saw you standing there your eyes red and puffy, looking so small and completely broken by the same grief tearing him apart all of his composure completely shattered. Whatever speech he had prepared on the drive over vanished.
His voice broke entirely, a raw, choked sound cutting through his throat. "Baby"
It was almost a sob, the word slipping out of him filled with so much pain and desperation that it made your own breath hitch. A tear finally escaped his eyes, tracking down his flushed cheek as he looked down at you, completely defenseless. He didn't wait for an invitation. He stepped across the threshold, closing the distance between you instantly.
"You didn't say it," Sam choked out, his chest heaving as he struggled to keep his voice from cracking completely. "You packed your things, you walked out the door, and you left without saying it."
You let out a shaky breath, looking away as fresh tears blurred your vision. "Sam... we broke up. We aren't together anymore. I didn't think I had the right to say it."
"No, no, that's wrong," Sam argued softly, his large, trembling hands reaching out to gently grab your forearms. His touch was desperate, pleading, but incredibly tender. "That's what made it hurt so bad. I sat in that empty apartment completely losing my mind because the silence was louder than anything else. And I realized something."
He took a ragged breath, squeezing your arms gently to draw you closer. "Even if things are messy right now, and even if we need to figure out how to breathe through everything it doesn't change the truth. I love you. I'm always going to love you, whether we are together or not. And hearing you walk away in total silence I can't do it. Please don't ever leave it unsaid again."
The raw vulnerability in his face, the sound of that fractured whisper, shattered the last of your defenses. The heavy weight of the breakup didn't seem as terrifying when confronted with the sheer magnitude of his devotion.
"I love you too, Sam," you whispered, the words finally releasing the pressure in your chest. "I wanted to say it so badly before I left."
Sam let out a long, ragged sigh of pure relief, immediately pulling you into his arms. He buried his face deep in the crook of your neck, holding you so tightly it felt like he was trying to fuse you back into his life permanently.
You wrapped your arms around his broad shoulders, holding him just as close, feeling the steady, calming rhythm of his heart finally slowing down against yours.
The problems that had caused the breakup weren't entirely solved yet, but as you held onto each other in the quiet motel room, you both knew you weren't going anywhere. The words would always be there.
🏷️, @alasdecas @spaghettiwoes @i-gotta-go-so-much-bigger @heavenisforharlets @dontlistentodaisy @samwspn
a/n: did anyone get the ariana grande reference no? okay hope you liked this tho 😭💗
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