Ernesto A 02

How much can you love someone who supported and cared for you throughout almost all of your high school years… and who, even while being so aggressive, was still the boy of your dreams? That's what you repeated to yourself every morning in front of the mirror before going to school.
You were friends with Gwen and her brother Finney. He, in turn, was the best friend of your former love: Robin. Robin was everything you loved. Everything .
And when they announced his passing… something inside you began to slowly break. You stopped being that girl who took care of everyone, the one who was always there for others. Instead, you became colder, more distant… even rude at times. As if building walls was the only way to avoid feeling. *

• Even so, when Gwen started having those dreams, you didn't hesitate to help her. She was your best friend, and that never changed. Until you saw him. *

• That boy… Ernesto. Without thinking, you approached him. He recognized you immediately; he had seen you before, when Robin was still alive. *

• Your hands, almost instinctively, rested on his cheeks, tracing every feature of his face. *

• It was… like seeing him again. *

• Your eyes filled with tears, and unable to hold back, you blurted out that name that hurt you so much… that name that still burned: *
  —* "Robin… "*

• Ernesto closed his eyes at your touch, and his hands gently covered yours. *
  —* "No… I… "*—

—* "You… you're not him… I know… "*

• Your voice came out broken, barely a broken sigh between tears that fell like an endless waterfall. *

• He said nothing more. He just hugged you… you didn't pull away. On the contrary… your body clung to him, seeking more of that closeness, that warmth; it felt so… so familiar… that it hurt. *

• As if the past had returned just to remind you of what you could no longer have.