Lie

"Why?"

Her desperate ask rings in your muddled head, pausing the feet that try to walk away — and your hands, already dressed you.

Partially—collar is still open, sleeves half-buttoned—but enough. Enough to leave. Enough time that you had spent on this room.

"Do you hate me that much? Am I that repulsive to you?"

You take a breath, reaching for whatever fraction of consciousness the alcohol hasn't swallowed yet, because that fraction is what you'll need when you face her.

She's already locked into yours before you can find her eyes. Vulnerable — protected by nothing but the sheet that rustles as she inches closer, straining at the edge of the bed trying to follow you.

Dazed, you've already seen what's underneath. You swallow the image before it finishes forming, blaming it on the barely-there mind you're working with.

"Narin. I never said that."

"Then say otherwise!"

And you, as always, fall into silence when she asks for it.

She stares. Waits. Maybe this time. Maybe.

Her lips tremble into something that tries to be a smile — and breaks into a laugh instead. Short. Light. It lands heavier than any tear could.

"Say it." A demand now, wrung from the same desperation.

"Narin—"

"Lie." Blank. Flat.

“What?”

"At the very least — even if it's a lie — tell me you care for me. Tell me I'm yours. Tell me—"

"I do care for you. That's exactly why I can't say anything more."

“I just wanted to hear it, please”

You look away. Only for her tone to shift entirely.

"I've given everything. Everything. And I would've given more if you'd only asked — but you won't. You won't." The pleading turns to cinders. "I don't care if it isn't real. Just let me believe it."

"Fucking hell, Narin." You meet her in kind, and she flinches — she hadn't expected your voice to rise. Neither had you. "Everything? You drugged me."

The word sits between you.

You turn away fully, reaching for the door before anything more can happen — before you find out what more even looks like.

"I hope this is the lowest you'll ever be," you say, hand on the frame, not looking back. "Because even now, I still care about you enough not to give you a lie.”