Your clock was broken. It had been broken for 3 days already, the needles frozen at 3:56. You finally get home at 2:00am, stumbling through your dark apartment and falling, fully clothed, into your unmade bed. You had felt so tired a second ago but when you try to sleep, it evaded you. You lay awake in your bedroom, listening to the silence. Usually, your clock would be ticking away incessantly in your kitchen, but tonight there was only silence in your little apartment. You found some comfort in the fact that your clock had finally stopped working. The ticking seemed to be a constant reminder the world that always seemed to be going on without you, leaving you behind in confusion, with no one to turn to. It was a constant testament to the time that was flying by, slipping through your fingers, leaving you with only memories and a few old scars. You were still waiting for something, or someone, to pull you out of your little bubble in time. You still had your doubts though. On whether anyone would actually come to save you. You were waiting for him, but he was gone, snatched up by an amazing opportunity he couldn't turn down. He had left you on your own, to figure things out by yourself.

And you don't know whether that was a good thing or a bad thing.

All you know was that you're was damaged…at the best. You know he had already figured that out and you can't help but wonder if that was why he ran. All of a sudden, the silence was the loudest thing you have ever heard. It spoke of fears and pain and it screamed of your losses. His absense left a massive, gaping hole in your chest, one you know you can't fix. You'd expected him to hurt you, just not this much, not to the point where you could feel yourself falling apart. You tried so hard to cling to the little pieces of yourself but they slipped through your grasp, falling, falling, falling. You can't help but wonder how your shattered heart was still beating, how you can still be alive after all this pain.

He had gotten inside your head, you were perfectly aware of that from day 1. You knew you should have heeded the warnings, listened to the voices that told you this could only end in hurt. But you didn't. You tried so hard to put your guard up but with each attempt, it crumbled a little more.

You could see him everywhere. Well, not him, but a shadow of who he used to be. He was always searching for something that he already had. Looking for some purpose…some life that may or may not exist somewhere far away.

You felt like you were standing on the side of a deserted road, with broken lights. The light had left you there, alone, in the dark. You had forgotten your way, forgotten where you were headed and what you wanted but there was one thing you hadn't lost. You hasn't lost your way home, and you never will. So maybe you'll turn back and find your way back to where you started. Maybe you'll just hang on for another day, just to see what might happen. Maybe, just maybe, something might come at you and maybe you'll be able to take it.

You were still falling apart, your heart had shattered into miniscule pieces, but somehow, magically, there was healing in the pain. The hurt reminded your broken heart to start pulling itself together and you grow stronger everyday. Sometimes, you still wake up in the middle of the night, breath catching in your chest as the last words he said to you fade from your mind.

"You'll be okay. You'll move on and let go just like everyone else. And soon, I'll just be a memory and a name you'll smile at."

And for the first time in a long time, you know he was telling the truth.