I Love You, but There Is No Place for Me in Your Life

I finally understand that loving me privately is not the same as choosing me.

You gave me just enough to keep hope alive. A late-night call. A promise that things would be different soon. A few hours that felt like a future. Then you returned to the life where I did not exist.

I kept telling myself patience was proof of love. It was not. It was proof that I had forgotten my own limits.

I believe you cared. I also believe care without courage can still cause harm.

I will not ask you to rearrange your life anymore. I will not wait for the day when I become convenient. I will not keep shrinking my needs so you can call this love without changing anything.

I love you. I am leaving anyway.

This time, I am choosing a life where I do not have to disappear in order to belong.