we never said it was over.

The apartment was too quiet.

Orm stepped inside Lingling's old place, the door creaking softly as she pushed it shut behind her. The familiar scent of Lingling still clung to the space—her perfume and the barely-there trace of her shampoo.

It hit Orm harder than she expected.

She moved through the apartment slowly, fingers trailing along the furniture, the counters, the pieces Lingling had left behind. Her throat stiffened as she found few clothes Lingling hadn't packed and stayed at the old apartment, an old oversized shirt, a hoodie, a worn pair of jeans folded on the chair by the window.

Orm grabbed them without thinking, clutching them to her chest like they were the only solid thing holding her together.

Back in her car, Orm dropped the clothes onto the passenger seat and sat there for a moment, staring blankly at the dashboard.

She grabbed her phone.

Orm: landed yet?
Orm: you there?
Orm: text me when you can... please.

No response.

Her chest tightened. Her fingers moved to the app on her phone, tracking the flight.

The little airplane icon crept along the screen, far from her now, the distance growing by the second.

Orm exhaled shakily, tossing her phone onto the passenger seat next to Lingling's clothes. Her hand curled around the fabric, squeezing it tightly as the tears welled up fast, blurring her vision.

"Don't cry, Orm..." she whispered to herself, shaking her head as she leaned back against the seat. "Don't cry..."

But she did.

The first tear slipped free. Then another. Her hand fisted Lingling's hoodie as the quiet sob tore from her throat.

"Shit..." she muttered under her breath, her other hand wiping at her eyes uselessly as the weight of goodbye finally crushed her.

All she could do was sit there, breathing in Lingling's scent, eyes burning, missing her already.

By the time Orm made it back to her place, her eyes were still red, her head pounding slightly from crying in the car.

She kicked off her shoes, dropped Lingling's clothes onto the couch, and stood there for a second, arms limp at her sides, staring at the quiet, empty space.

The silence was suffocating.

Her shoulders slumped as she walked to the kitchen, grabbing a glass of water like it would somehow fix the pit in her chest. But well, it didn't.

She took a sip, staring blankly at her reflection in the microwave door.

"Okay..." she muttered to herself, setting the glass down, planting both palms on the counter. "Pull yourself together, Orm."

She exhaled hard, glaring at her own reflection. "It's a few months. You've done this before. You're fine. You're... independent. Mature. Totally not falling apart."

She laughed weakly to herself, the sound humorless and broken. "God, you're pathetic..."

Her eyes drifted down to her hand, the engagement ring she still wears, glinting faintly in the kitchen light.

She forced herself to straighten up, fingers brushing over the ring gently.

"Stop acting like you've been abandoned," she whispered to herself. "She loves you. You'll be together soon."