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After dinner, she grabbed another glass of wine and went out onto the balcony. I let her have a moment before following.

She was standing there, staring out at the waves crashing against the shore, the moonlight glowing against her skin.

When she felt me behind her, she sighed.

"Creed," she started softly. I already knew where this was going.

"Don’t," I said, shaking my head. "Not tonight."

"Creed…" She turned to face me; her eyes full of emotion. "We have to talk about it."

I clenched my jaw, exhaling hard through my nose.

"I know," I admitted. "I just… I don’t wanna hear you say it."

"Say what?"

"That you’re leaving," I muttered. "That you’re gonna take my daughter and move to another state. That you’re done with me for good."

She sighed, looking frustrated now.

"I never said I was taking her from you," she said. "And I never said I was done with you for good."

I scoffed. "You don’t have to. It’s written all over you, Serenity."

Her shoulders slumped and she dragged her fingers through her hair.

"I don’t want this to be a fight," she whispered.

I closed my eyes for a second, trying to calm my shit down.

"I know," I said eventually. "I just… I don’t get it SB. We’re good. We’ve been good."

"That’s the problem," she said softly.

I frowned. "What?"

She licked her lips, shaking her head like she was struggling to put it into words.

"We can’t just ignore what happened," she finally said. "I can’t pretend like it didn’t change things between us. Youcheated on me Creed. And even though I know it wasn’t just about that…it still broke me."

My stomach clenched painfully.

"I’ve done everything I could to fix it," I said, my voice hoarse.

"I know," she said quickly. "And I see it. But I still need time."

I swallowed hard.

I wanted to be selfish. I wanted to tell her that love was enough. That we could work through this. That she didn’t need to go anywhere. But…I couldn’t. Because deep down, I knew she was right.

After a long pause, she reached for my hand, threading her fingers through mine. "I still love you, so fuckin much." she admitted, her voice barely above a whisper. I felt my chest tighten. "But I have to love me, too," she added.

I sighed, pressing my forehead against hers.

"But just know," I murmured, "This ain’t over."

She didn’t answer. She just let me pull her into my arms and we stood there, wrapped in each other, knowing that when this trip ended…Everything would change.