We think this is it. We close the door because we know it’s pointless to keep it open. We don’t think we can redeem ourselves after we messed up, after we said words we can’t take back and we stop ourselves from doing something we said we’d never do because we’re doing what’s right for us, we’re doing what’s best for us.

But then I had an epiphany, if we’re the ones writing our own story, we can still write one more chapter, we can still write as many chapters as we want and we can still add another chapter to old stories, we can still start over or recreate the story and we can still change the ending.

Maybe you and I need to write another chapter. A new chapter with a new title, a new chapter with less drama and more love and a new chapter hoping for a new beginning. A new chapter asking for forgiveness, friendship and maybe love eventually, but for now, let’s not make our last encounter our last chapter.

Our story is not over. Our last chapter has not been written yet.

Because if our story was over, we wouldn’t be running into each other as much as we do and fate wouldn’t have interfered in our plans to bring us closer.

Because if our story was over, we wouldn’t have found anything to talk about but for some reason we never run out of things to talk about, we still have a lot to know about each other and we still have more stories to tell, more secrets to share and more memories to make.

Because if our story was over, you and I wouldn’t be smiling at each other the way we do, you wouldn’t be looking at me when I’m not looking and I wouldn’t be thinking about you as often as I do.

Because if our story was over, we wouldn’t be missing each other. We would’ve forgotten. We would’ve moved on.

Because if our story was over, we would’ve both met someone else by now, we would’ve found our happily ever after and we wouldn’t be so lonely. We wouldn’t be so sad.

And maybe I’m just romanticizing our situation because I want to believe that our story is not over but part of me can’t help but wonder if I hold the pen and start writing one more chapter, will I be able to change the ending? Will I be able to change our story?

I don’t know for sure, but I know I want to try. I know it’s worth the risk. I know it’s worth a few more pages, a few more sentences because we still have a lot to say, a lot to do and a lot to experience.

Because ever since our last encounter, my writing skills have improved and my mind has been filled with wonder, enlightenment and love. Maybe I can write a better chapter for us and maybe that’s all it takes. It all starts with one person willing to make a change. One person deciding that it doesn’t have to end — that the last chapter hasn’t even been written yet and there’s a lot more to the story.

Rania Naim is a poet and author of the new book All The Words I Should Have Said, available here.