Lucian’s voice softened as he looked at Avey, his gaze steady yet weighted by years of unreciprocated affection. “You asked me why,” he began quietly, “and the answer is simple I liked you.”
He paused, and his voice grew heavier. “I fell in love with you more every single time I saw you, even if it seemed foolish. You probably grew accustomed to the attention, having people admire you, follow you. But for me, this was different it was my first time. The first time I ever truly liked someone.” He swallowed, his words now carrying an undercurrent of vulnerability. “I had no idea how to tell you. So, I tried.”
Lucian’s voice trembled as he continued, “I read articles, watched videos, and asked around. They said girls liked chocolates, so I bought them for you, hoping it would help me show how much I cared. I confessed to you then, the second time. I remember every word of it.” He looked away, briefly lost in thought. “You turned me down, and honestly, I wasn’t surprised. But I told myself I would keep going.”
The crowd around them seemed to fall silent, drawn in by Lucian’s words, as he continued. “I heard you had a sensitive stomach, so I brought warm water I prepared myself, hoping to ease your discomfort, and I confessed again. By that point, it was the twelfth time. I hoped no, I believed that maybe you would understand what I was trying to tell you. But each time, you rejected me, and each time, you grew colder. I kept wondering, ‘Is this how much I care? Or am I just holding onto a dream?'”
Avey’s face turned pale, her expression pained, as memories of his gentle attempts flooded back to her. She recalled each rejection, her heart twisting as she saw them through Lucian’s eyes for the first time. Lucian’s voice continued, steady yet somehow resigned. “Someone told me once that roses symbolize love, so I brought you flowers forty-eight times.” A sad smile crossed his face, a fleeting glimpse of a young man who had once hoped against hope. “Every time, I hoped you’d take just one, to show that maybe you didn’t feel the same, but you understood. But you didn’t. Not even once.”
The students listening now felt a collective sense of heartbreak, and the laughter of the past became a heavy silence. They remembered, just like Lucian, each time he approached her with hope and walked away rejected. And now, with every word Lucian spoke, his sincerity echoed, revealing a story that had never been understood. Some students looked away, ashamed for the times they’d mocked him, while others watched Avey, who sat motionless, her eyes filled with sorrow.
Lucian looked over at her, his gaze unwavering but softened by a new distance. “For you, those rejections might have been routine, something you expected to keep happening. But for me… every single confession was real. They were my truth, my heart laid bare. I thought if I was honest enough, that would matter. I thought maybe you’d see… that just maybe, my feelings deserved some kindness, even if they didn’t deserve to be returned.”
Avey opened her mouth to say something, but the words stuck in her throat. She wanted to tell him that she didn’t know then what she knew now. That she, too, had grown to feel something deeper, something real. But under Lucian’s steady gaze, she felt the weight of his disappointment press down on her, and the words felt hollow. Her voice, usually so steady, faltered.
Lucian continued, his tone gentle but with a touch of finality. “I never blamed you, you know. Love isn’t something you can force. I believed that if I was true, eventually, things would fall into place. But life doesn’t work like that. And now I understand that while those confessions were a part of my journey, this moment, here and now, is my confession to myself.”
The students could feel the emotion in his words, and Avey could feel her heart tightening, almost breaking. She had always thought Lucian would be there, that his devotion would stay unwavering. She’d taken it for granted, never imagining that one day he would simply stop.
Lucian turned to face her fully, his eyes intense. “This isn’t about anger, Avey. I’m not doing this to hurt you or to teach you some kind of lesson. I’m doing this for myself. Because I deserve to be free of something that only brings me pain now.” He sighed, his eyes reflecting the struggle it took to come to this decision. “I’m saying goodbye to the idea of you and me. And I’m letting go.”
Avey’s hands shook as she sat there, the weight of regret pressing down on her. She had lost him, and now she understood perhaps too late what his love had meant. “I’m sorry,” she whispered, barely able to meet his gaze. “I’m so sorry, Lucian.”
Lucian gave a small, sad smile. “Just… remember this, Avey. Never take someone’s feelings for granted. If you don’t love them, let them go, but don’t mock their heart. Don’t wait until it’s gone to see the value in it.” He turned his face to side again putting hand on his face sighing as exausted.
For Avey, it was the realization that she had been loved so deeply, and she’d let it slip through her fingers. As he walked away, she realized he was taking the last of his love with him.
The students listening to Lucian’s conversation, as well as Cassandra, couldn’t help but feel a wave of sadness and guilt sweep over them. Cassandra, in particular, watched Lucian with a blend of surprise and regret, her gaze full of complex emotions. She remembered all too well how many times she had witnessed Lucian confessing his feelings to Avey, and she had often been there in the background, observing with a smirk or placing bets with friends on whether or not he’d be rejected again.
In their eyes, Lucian’s repeated rejections had been nothing more than a running joke a spectacle to amuse them and break up the monotony of college life. They would exchange grins, mock his persistence, and marvel at his lack of self-respect, finding it unbelievable that he’d keep going back to someone who seemed so disinterested. Yet, in Lucian’s eyes, that persistence had been a testament to something they hadn’t understood: a deep, unwavering love he wasn’t afraid to pursue, no matter how humiliating the outcome.
Cassandra shifted uncomfortably, the weight of the realization settling over her. For the first time, she truly saw the quiet tragedy in Lucian’s determination, and it hit her how wrong she had been. The moments that had amused her were, in fact, some of the most vulnerable in his life. Each confession he had made, every rejection he had endured those weren’t just scenes in a soap opera, they were pieces of a young man’s genuine love, love that had come from the heart and demanded nothing in return.
Looking at him now, she felt a pang of guilt. That affection Lucian had shown was raw and real. It deserved respect, if not reciprocation, but they had mocked him instead. What had once seemed laughable now struck her as beautiful, and the thought of how they had treated it left her feeling a deep shame. For years, she had watched him risk his pride for someone he cared for, and all she’d done was laugh at him.
Her heart tightened, and she wondered how she had never seen it before, how she had let herself get so carried away with the crowd. She wasn’t alone in her guilt. The crowd around her shifted uneasily, exchanging glances, as if silently acknowledging the same realization. The air around them was thick with an unspoken regret. For the first time, they all felt the weight of their actions, and how cruel it was to turn his genuine affection into their amusement.
The truth was painfully clear now. Lucian’s affection might have been unreciprocated, but it had been real. And it was a sentiment that deserved respect not the ridicule they had heaped upon it.
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hey guys well i would like to apologise for past mistakes…i really didn’t realise i was writing so slow and even using some meaningless explanation…well due to some good readers ive understand and come to know these problems
so i will not repeat them from now on…i tried write chapters by little different way tell me if i should improve it more
thanks for reading and telling me guys…
extra chapters for apology