Yes?

My heartbeat was taking up all the space in my body. There was no room for air, no room for thoughts.

“I mean, you're right,” I continued. She glanced up at me and I blinked at her image. The brown eyes looked like a strangers’ now, not the same girl I had just walked around with for three hours. Her hands seemed fidgety and unstable, not the ones that fit perfectly in mine.

“Oh,” she said. “I see.” The way she said that made my heart lurch. Although my heart was beating faster than ever, it stopped for a second. And I went numb. My brain and my hands and thoughts and everything. Went numb. I offered a smile emotionlessly at her when she looked down. It all felt so surreal.

"Not that it's important now, but I thought you should know."

"I guess." She sounded unsure. "But you're over me. I'm sorta annoying and weird anyway. Right?"

"Well," I hesitated. How could I tell her I still loved her. And her "annoying" texts every hour about anything. Her quirky hoodies and dedication to soccer. Her ridiculously curly hair and sweetness. Her personality and every line on her hand. All our memories and how she made me feel like I was on fire, alive and truly here.

Her face said it all. I couldn't tell her.

"What do you think?" I asked her instead.

"Honestly, I liked you too." She shrugged. "But I got over it. I love you still, I mean, but you've already broken my heart so I can't pretend this relationship will ever be okay."

My heart leaped, cracked, repaired itself, and shattered all in the span of a few seconds.

"Would you ever-" I picked up all the courage I had.

"No." She interrupted. The pain in her eyes cut into mine. "No."

Looking back, she was right about one thing. Our relationship would never and will never be okay. It's healing, reforming and growing. But it isn't okay.

If she had said yes, maybe we would've been that couple. The one who has movie marathons on snow days and eats too much junk food together. The one that does all the cheesy things and holds hands just because we don't want to be apart. Yes could've led us down so many paths and opened so many possibilites. It could've changed us and opened the world. But sometimes, "No" can also change the world.