I know what I said.

I said that I don’t know what I feel. That it’s too much for me to handle. And that I don’t want you in my life. Yet you didn’t let me go. You were there for me regardless of how hard I pushed you away. You stayed put and fought for me until I made it impossible, so you listened to me and let me be.

Then, years later, I got scared. I chose to disappear — it’s one of my greatest tricks. See, it’s always been my defense mechanism, a way to make myself feel safe, to avoid getting hurt. It never had anything to do with you — it was me. That’s my immediate response when things are getting serious and too intimate. It was all out of fear.

I’ve always claimed that I would never ghost — it was my life’s motto. However, I did that to you on more occasions than I can count. I could go on and on explaining how I was dealing with my personal demons, but it doesn’t justify the way I made you feel. And there aren’t enough apologies in the world to make up for it.

I should have told you how I felt. You should’ve heard that I loved you. You deserved to know how I felt, how I still feel. But I couldn’t bear to open up like this, to make myself so vulnerable. And now I have to live with the consequences.

I know I broke your heart. And I know you can’t trust me — you’ve said so yourself. Truth be told, I can’t blame you. If I was on the receiving end of my actions, I wouldn’t want to have anything to do with myself.

But you showed up, like you always have, with hesitance and pain in your eyes that shattered me to pieces. I know I can’t change what I’ve done and what I have not said, but I hope that you believe my words when I say I never meant to hurt you. In fact, that was the last thing I have ever intended to do.

I don’t know where we’re going to go from here, but it’s important that you know that you have never left my mind. Through the ups and downs in my life, relationships, moves, and lost friendships, you were always at the back of my head. And I’m fairly certain that you will stay there forever.

Because the truth is that I have always loved you. And no matter what happens, I think I always will.