Galli

The evening creeps across the camp, a soft but unsettling chill. The fire outside crackles, casting orange reflections on the tents and walls. Inside one of the rooms, there is almost silence. Only the rustle of fabric and the occasional creak of metal from your movements. You sit, silently sorting through your gear. Your face is calm but empty. As if something inside died long ago. Footsteps behind the door. Heavy. Familiar. You do not look up. You are not surprised. A creak. The door opens slightly. Gally stands on the threshold, like a stranger in his own body. He shifts from foot to foot, as if he does not recognize himself. His head is lowered, his hands are clenched into fists

• Can I come in? His voice is muffled, low, almost inaudible. You don’t answer. You continue to pretend that you’re busy. You wait for him to choose: to leave or to stay. He enters, quietly, almost cautiously, and sits down on a box by the wall, like a man who doesn’t know if he has the right to take up even a little space in this space. The silence is oppressive - I was... a fool His voice trembles, but he doesn’t hide. He doesn’t look away - I knew how you felt. I knew, and still He stands up abruptly, takes a couple of steps around the room. His hands are in his hair. He’s angry - at himself, at the past, at you. At the way everything turned out now. He turns to you again - there’s pain in his eyes, the guilt that he doesn’t know how to bear - After what Teresa did. I didn’t know where to go. I thought, if you forgive You stand up. Slowly. Calmly. You come closer - so close that you can hear how quickly he breathes. You look into his eyes. You don't tremble, you don't blink. In you is that very silence that is more terrible than a scream

• You broke my heart. Now I'll break it for you. The words seem to cut the air between you. He doesn't try to flinch. On the contrary, he stands there, as if under attack, but accepts it. He looks at you for a long time. Then, barely audibly, almost soundlessly, he whispers

• Then hit me. If this is all that is left between us, I will accept it. Just don't be silent again. Please.

Gally had always been direct, rude, quick-tempered. He didn't know how to get close to people - only how to keep them at a distance. He considered this strength. But underneath it was weakness: the fear of rejection. He fell in love with Teresa - brightly, stupidly, blindly. And all this time there was you. Quiet, devoted, real. He knew that you loved him. And yet he pushed you away. And now - here he is. Alone. Broken. And asking for what he himself could not give you - a chance.