Dalton couldn't cope with it. The breakup hit him harder than he had ever imagined, leaving him in a dark, suffocating void that he couldn't escape. Nothing could help him. Every day felt like it dragged on for years, each minute weighed down by an overwhelming sense of loss. Vanessa had been his anchor, the one constant in his chaotic world, and now she was gone.
He fell into a deep depression, one that consumed him whole. Nightmares plagued his sleep—memories of Vanessa resurfacing in every corner of his mind, haunting him. Whenever he saw something, anything that reminded him of her, it was like ripping open a wound that had barely begun to heal.
It was impossible to escape her. Everything he enjoyed, he had shared with her. The music he listened to, the shows they watched together, even the mundane moments of his life were now poisoned with memories of her. They had been so intertwined, and now, with her gone, every piece of joy felt hollow. He couldn't escape it—the presence of Vanessa lingered everywhere, even in the silence.
Dalton tried reaching out, desperately hoping to talk things through, to hear her voice, to make sense of everything. But every message went unanswered. His heart sank further when he realized what she had done—she had blocked him. Not just on one platform, but everywhere. Instagram, messages, every space where he had once spoken to her—gone. The door was shut. He was completely cut off from the person who had once meant everything to him.
The pain was unbearable.
He tried everything to escape it, but nothing worked. There was no reprieve, no relief. He had given her everything—his time, his love, his trust—and now it felt like he had nothing left. He was so empty.
In the middle of one particularly bad night, Dalton stood in his kitchen, staring blankly at the stove. His mind was a blur of emotions—grief, anger, confusion—and the numbness in his heart was overwhelming. It felt like no matter what he did, there was no escaping the pain.
He turned on the stove, watching the small flame flicker to life. It glowed softly in the dimly lit kitchen, casting a faint orange hue across his face. He wasn't sure why he had done it—maybe he thought the heat would bring some sensation back to his body, some distraction from the emptiness gnawing at his soul. Maybe, for just a moment, the physical burn could drown out the emotional one.
But as the flame danced in front of him, the numbness remained. Even the heat couldn't cut through the cold void inside him.
Dalton turned off the stove, staring at the empty space where the flame had been. He felt so alone, so hopeless. Even when he tried to escape the pain, it followed him everywhere. The stove, like every other attempt to pull himself out of this void, left him feeling just as hollow as before.
***
He couldn't keep going like this.
His mental state was deteriorating fast, and it was starting to affect everything—his work, his relationships, even his ability to function. He couldn't bring himself to go to work. Every time he thought about getting out of bed, about facing the world, it felt like too much to handle. He took time off, needing the space to try and recover, but it didn't help.
All he could think about was Vanessa. Every day was a reminder of her absence, a constant ache that wouldn't leave. The memories, the dreams—they were all poisoned now. The things that had once brought him happiness only brought pain. He felt trapped in a cycle of grief that had no end.
He tried reaching out again. Desperation set in. Maybe if he just explained how he felt, maybe if he could just talk to her, they could fix things. He sent one last message—just one more chance to try to break through. But when he hit send, it didn't go through. Blocked.
She had cut him out of her life completely, without a word. The silence was final, absolute. There was nothing left for him to say, nothing left to hold on to.
And then the reminder came.
One morning, Dalton was lying in bed, staring at the ceiling, when his phone buzzed. It was a work notification, reminding him of the time off he had scheduled for next week. He had almost forgotten.
The time off wasn't just a break—it was supposed to be something special. Dalton had planned to surprise Vanessa, visiting her right before his birthday. He had been so excited, mapping out every detail, booking the plane tickets, imagining the look on her face when he showed up unannounced.
He had everything planned. He would have walked up to her door, flowers in hand, smiling at the thought of her reaction. He imagined taking her out, laughing, talking, pretending for just a little while that everything was fine. He would have told her how much he loved her, how much he missed her, and maybe things would have started to heal.
But now, those plans were worthless. The trip he had been so eager for, the visit he had been counting down the days to, was just another reminder of everything he had lost. His birthday was only a week away, but instead of celebrating, he was left with nothing but pain.
It wasn't the first time this had happened. His last relationship had ended the same way, right before his birthday. October, once a time he had looked forward to, had become a month of dread. The bane of his existence. Everything seemed to fall apart in October, leaving him broken and alone.
The plane ticket sat unused, a stark reminder of the life he had almost had. The time off work felt like a cruel joke, mocking him with the space he had cleared for Vanessa—a space that was now empty.
The memories overwhelmed him.
Dalton couldn't shake the thought that maybe, somehow, this was his fault. Maybe he had pushed her too hard, maybe he had held on too tightly. Every conversation they had replayed in his mind, over and over, as he tried to figure out where things had gone wrong.
He thought about the first time he had met her, the first time he had noticed her drawings, the late-night talks that had once felt so intimate and safe. And now, all of that was gone. Vanessa had blocked him from her life, and he couldn't even find closure.
Dalton's world had collapsed. The life he had built around her, the future he had imagined with her—none of it was real anymore. He couldn't stop thinking about the what-ifs, about how things might have been different. But there was no changing it now. The silence between them was final.
He tried to fill the emptiness with distractions, but nothing worked. Every song, every movie, every conversation seemed to bring her back to him in some way. Everything was tainted by her memory.
Dalton couldn't escape it. The weight of the loss was crushing him, and every attempt to move forward felt like he was dragging himself through quicksand. The days stretched on, long and empty, with no end in sight.
The flame of the stove had been a brief flicker, a momentary attempt to feel something—anything—other than the overwhelming numbness that consumed him. But even that had failed. He had turned off the flame, but the numbness remained, deep and impenetrable.