You Would Have Been Enough !!!

I learned to sit with the silence you left behind—
those long, stretching hours where time felt slow
and your absence felt louder than any noise could ever be.

You existed like a shadow at my doorway,
always near, never arriving.
And somehow… I still understood.

It wasn’t me you were running from.
It was the heaviness of “almost,”
the fear of stepping into something real
before you believed you were ready for love.

You thought love demanded certainty—
a steady voice, a confident heart,
hands that never trembled
and a soul polished smooth with perfection.

But here is the truth buried quietly in my chest:
I never needed a flawless version of you.
I only needed the one who was willing to stand beside me.

You could have come undone,
still piecing yourself together,
still searching for the map back to your own heart—
and I would have welcomed you just the same.

I didn’t ask for unbreakable strength.
Just the warmth of your human softness.
Just the courage to stay
even when fear told you to disappear.

Because real love doesn’t walk in already shaped.
It is molded in the chaos,
in the misunderstandings,
in the choice to keep holding on
even when letting go feels easier.

It grows through truth whispered in shaky voices,
through trust rebuilt after small fractures,
through learning and relearning each other
like turning the same page and always finding something new.

I didn’t want perfection from you.
I wanted presence.
I wanted the version of you that was scared,
uncertain, beautifully flawed—
yet still willing to show up.

That would have been enough.
You would have been enough!!!

-Afri!