The room was quiet, save for the ticking of the wall clock. Darcy sat on the couch, her fingers nervously tracing the seams of the cushion beneath her. The atmosphere was heavy with unspoken words, as if the very space between you knew what was coming. She glanced at you, an expression of concern etched on your face. Taking a deep breath, she finally broke the silence.

“We have to talk.”

Her voice trembled ever so slightly, but she steadied herself, forcing her eyes to meet yours. The concerned look you gave her deepened the knot in her stomach. How could she begin? The words felt lodged in her throat, impossible to push out. But this conversation needed to happen.

“It’s not you,” Darcy started, her voice quieter now, each word weighed down with emotion. “I need you to understand that first. It’s not you at all. It’s me, and I don’t know how to handle this.”

She paused, searching for the right words, the tension palpable in the air. It was like trying to navigate through fog—everything felt distant, blurry, as though the clarity she once had was slipping further away with each passing day. The beating of her heart echoed in her ears, each thump a reminder of the love she felt and the confusion that accompanied it.

“I love you so much,” she continued, her voice catching on the word 'love.' “You have no idea how much you mean to me. When I think about my future, it’s always with you in it. I see us traveling, laughing together, growing old. I can’t imagine my life without you.”

But then, the smile that usually accompanied those thoughts faded, and she looked away, her fingers fidgeting with the fabric of her jeans. “But on the other hand...” Her breath hitched, the word catching in her throat like a bitter pill. “It feels like I’ve lost a part of myself somewhere along the way.”

Her heart ached as tears pricked her eyes, her frustration boiling beneath the surface. “I don’t want to fall out of love with you. I hate that I’m feeling this. It’s like something inside me is drifting, and I can’t figure out why or how to stop it.”

With each word, she felt the weight of her emotions pressing down harder, suffocating her as she struggled to express what was so tangled inside. “On one hand, I want to spend the rest of my life with you. You’re my person. You’ve always been. I can’t imagine being with anyone else but you. But on the other...”

Her voice faltered, and she let out a shaky breath. "But on the other hand... it feels like I’m slipping away from us, and I hate it. There are days I wake up and I don’t understand why I feel so distant when all I want is to be close to you."

Darcy’s hands fidgeted nervously at her sides as she let the silence settle between you for a moment. You hadn’t spoken a word, only watching her, your face etched with concern and quiet patience. That patience was breaking her heart even more. She could feel the love in your eyes, and it made everything harder.

"I hate this feeling," Darcy admitted, her voice quieter now, almost a whisper. "I hate that I’m hurting you. I hate that I’m hurting myself. I’ve tried to push it aside, to pretend everything’s fine, but it’s always there, lurking in the back of my mind. And I don’t know how to fix it.”

The tears were falling more freely now, but Darcy made no move to wipe them away. She felt vulnerable, exposed, like she was standing in front of the person she loved most in the world, completely unable to protect them from the truth she didn’t want to speak.

"I wish I could just figure this out, you know?" she said, her voice laced with frustration. "I wish I could just make this go away, because I don’t want to lose us. I want to feel the way I did before. I want to look at you and feel like everything makes sense again. But right now, I... I feel lost."

Her heart raced as she finally met your gaze again, the sincerity in your eyes both grounding and agonizing. "I love you. And I want you to know that this isn’t your fault. You’ve done everything right. You’ve been there for me, supported me, loved me in every way I could ever ask for. But something inside me just feels... disconnected. Like I don’t know myself anymore."

"I want to spend the rest of my life with you," Darcy said softly, her voice full of desperation now. "I really do. I can’t see myself with anyone else but you. But I also can’t ignore this feeling. This fear that I’m losing my way, that I’m pulling away when I don’t want to. And I don’t know how to make it stop.”

Her voice trailed off, the weight of her confession hanging in the air between you. Darcy felt utterly defeated, as though she had poured out her heart and found nothing but confusion and heartache in return. Her head was in her hands, her body trembling from the release of so much pent-up emotion. After a moment, she slowly looked up, her eyes glistening with tears, and whispered, “Please... say something...”