Mind says Leave; Heart says Wait

 I met her on a regular Tuesday — the kind of day you forget until something unforgettable happens.

We weren’t meant to be something great. That’s what I kept telling myself. But reality has a way of feeling different when emotions show up uninvited.

It started simply — small talks, late-night conversations, and that occasional feeling that maybe, just maybe, she understood a side of me I never put into words. She had this way of laughing with her eyes and asking questions that made silence feel safe. I wasn’t looking for anything. But somehow, I found myself waiting for her messages, rereading them when she took too long to reply. You know the drill — modern-day emotional attachment camouflaged as casual bonding.

At first, everything was light. She’d share her playlists, I’d share my midnight thoughts. She spoke about stars, trauma, and healing like she was still figuring it out — and I admired that. There was a realness to her that pulled me in. And slowly, the “what are we” started haunting me at 2 AM, but I never asked. I was scared the answer wouldn’t match what I hoped.

She was warm but distant. Present, but never fully available. Some days she’d talk like we were each other’s person. Other days, her replies felt like formalities — polite, delayed, short. I’d convince myself she was busy. But deep down, I knew: you make time for what matters.

The mind noticed patterns:

• How I was always the one initiating the conversation.
• How she never really asked about my bad days unless I brought them up.
• How she could go hours, sometimes days, without checking in — while I’d check my phone far too often for someone who wasn’t mine.

But the heart…

The heart remembered how she once waited on a call till I fell asleep.

The heart replayed the time she said, “I feel safe talking to you.”

The heart — stupidly romantic, hopelessly hopeful — kept waiting for more moments like those.

I started withdrawing bit by bit. Not to punish her, but to protect myself. I stopped being the first to text. I responded slower. I acted like I was okay — but inside, I was measuring the distance growing between us, quietly grieving something that was never defined but deeply felt.

And then came the final moment — when she didn’t notice I had pulled back.

That was it.

Not a fight.

Not a betrayal.

Just indifference.

My mind whispered, “She’s not for you. Let go.”

But my heart still whispered back, “Maybe tomorrow she’ll come around. Maybe she just needs time.”

So here I was — stuck in that dangerous in-between.

Mind says leave.

Heart says wait.