Days later,
Arthur sat on the couch in Pim's apartment, his fingers clenched firmly around a warm cup of tea that he had scarcely taken a sip from. The tension in the room was thick, unspoken feelings hovering between him, Pim, and Mia. They had just apologized—sincerely, deeply—for hiding Tyler's falsehoods, for betraying him. But now, as the silence stretched, Arthur could see there was more.
Mia shuffled uncomfortably in her seat. "Arthur, there's something you need to know," she began, her voice quieter than normal.
Pim glanced at her before turning back to Arthur, her attitude apprehensive but resolute. "It's about why Nick left."
Arthur tensed. He had tried not to think about that day too much—the moment he woke up in the hospital, the tiredness dragging him down, only to hear from a nurse that someone had come, a boy called Nick. He had disappeared even before he woke up. No goodbye, no explanation, just gone.
"You already told me," Arthur stated bluntly, staring at the untouched tea. "He left because he didn't want to deal with me anymore."
"No," Pim responded immediately, leaning forward. "That's not it. That's not it at all."
Arthur looked up, examining their expressions. Mia took a big breath.
"Nick didn't leave because he didn't care," she claimed. "He left because he thought he had already hurt you beyond repair."
Arthur's breath hitched. His grasp on the cup tightened. " what do you mean by that?""" He overheard Tyler confessing. "The day Tyler visited you at the hospital, Nick came to the hospital instantly when he heard you fainted, but on entering, Mia said, he heard Tyler confess what he did to you, observing him attentively. "He heard everything—how it was all a setup, how you never cheated, how he manipulated the entire situation."
Arthur swallowed hard. "Then why didn't he come to me?" His voice was barely above a whisper, but there was a sharp edge to it.
Mia and Pim exchanged glances.
"Because he was broken," Pim remarked, voice tinged with melancholy. "Arthur, he cried. He cried for everything he did to you—for doubting you, for accusing you, for not believing in you when you needed him the most."
Arthur felt something deep inside him crack open. Nick cried? He regretted it, hum?
Pim said, "He told me… He told me that when he saw you in that hospital bed, pale and unconscious, he realized how much damage he had done. Not simply because of the disagreement or the breakup, but because he had put you through so much. And then, on top of it, he had tried to damage you with that phoney relationship with Mia."
Arthur's chest clenched uncomfortably. "So he just… left? His voice was shaking now. "Such a coward,"
Mia nodded. "He thought you'd be better off without him. That he had already damaged everything, that his presence would only bring you more grief. He believed—no, he convinced himself—that you deserve someone better."
Arthur let out a nervous breath, his mind whirling.
He thought back to every moment—and everything they shared.
Arthur had spent so long assuming Nick departed because he didn't care. That Nick had decided he wasn't worth it.
But now… suddenly he was being told the opposite.
Nick left because he thought he wasn't worth it.
Arthur clenched his jaw, his fingers holding the ceramic cup so firmly he believed it could shatter. "That idiot," he mumbled. His throat hurt, emotions pouring inside him.
"That absolute idiot,"
Pim offered him a sad smile. "Yeah, he is."
Arthur blinked rapidly, attempting to force back the sting in his eyes. He had been angry for so long. He had convinced himself that Nick had abandoned him and had chosen to move on so effortlessly. But the reality was… Nick had been drowning in guilt.
Mia hesitated before saying, "He still loves you, Arthur." He loves you so deeply it hurts.
Arthur gave out a weak laugh. "Then why isn't he here?
"Because he's afraid," Pim replied softly, "afraid that even if he comes back, even if he tries to fix things… he won't deserve your forgiveness."
Arthur exhaled, setting the cup down with slightly shaky fingers. He buried his face in his palms, inhaling deeply.
He wasn't sure what to feel.
Anger? At Nick for making such a horrible decision on his own? For not communicating with him, for not letting Arthur decide what he wanted? For not hearing him out when he approached him.
Pain? Because all this time, they had both been suffering individually when they should have been together?
Love?
The emotion that had never really gone away no matter how much he tried to suppress it
Mia and Pim stayed silent, allowing him to comprehend it all.
Finally, Arthur sat back, scratching his face before gazing at them. "Where is he now?
Mia paused. "We… don't know. He departed without telling anyone."
Arthur inhaled sharply.
But something inside him had moved.
For the first time in a long time, he understood.
And now, he knew what he had to do. He will continue to search for him.