The Voice In The Crowd - Leah Williamson

28. Honesty

Leah's POV.

The soft glow of my phone illuminated the dimly lit room as I hesitated before answering Sophia's call. Although we were getting to know each other all over again, the wounds of our past still felt raw and tender. Each phone call was uncertainty lingering in the air, wondering if I was going to pick up to a version of Sophia that once again walked away from me.

"Hello?" I answered cautiously, my heart pounding in my chest.

"Leah, hi," her voice was soft, almost hesitant.

"Hi, Soph" I replied, unable to keep the surprise out of my voice.

There was a brief pause before Sophia spoke again, her words tumbling out in a rush as if she couldn't hold them back any longer.

"I've been thinking about you a lot lately," she confessed, her voice tinged with uncertainty. "And I know we have a lot of things to talk about, but... I just wanted to hear your voice."

Her admission caught me off guard, and for a moment, I was at a loss for words. But then, slowly, tentatively, we began to talk. At first, it was surface-level chit chat – the weather, our jobs, anything to fill the silence between us.

But as the minutes ticked by, the conversation deepened, and before I knew it, we were delving into the complexities of our past relationship.

"Leah, our past... it's complicated. It wasn't just the media scrutiny, it was because it reminded me of the trauma from my mother, how she always made me feel like I wasn't good enough," Sophia confessed.

Her words hung heavy in the air between us, and for a moment, I was at a loss for how to respond. Sophia's vulnerability caught me off guard, tearing down the walls I had built around my heart.

"Sophia, I had no idea. I'm so sorry you went through that," I replied, my voice filled with empathy. Internally telling myself that we definitely needed to explore those feelings in depth next time we were together.

As Sophia shared some of her deepest fears and insecurities with me, I felt a swell of empathy and understanding wash over me. It was as if I was seeing her in a whole new light, understanding the demons that had haunted her for so long.

But amidst the flood of emotions, there was also a nagging sense of resentment lingering beneath the surface. Sophia's abandonment had left a scar on my heart, one that still throbbed with pain and betrayal.

"Sophia, I have to be honest with you. When you left, it did a lot of damage to my mental health. I felt like I wasn't good enough, like I didn't deserve love, it's really hard for me to talk to you and not remember that," I admitted.

Admitting my vulnerability to Sophia was a difficult pill to swallow, but it was also a necessary step towards healing. I needed her to understand the impact of her actions, to see the wreckage left in the wake of her departure.

"Leah, I'm so sorry. I never meant to hurt you like that," Sophia replied, her voice filled with emotion.

Her words were filled with remorse, but I couldn't help but wonder if they were enough to mend the fractures in our relationship. Could we truly move past the pain and betrayal, or were we doomed to repeat the same mistakes over and over again?

As we continued to navigate the delicate balance of rebuilding our relationship, I found myself grappling with a myriad of conflicting emotions. There was a part of me that longed to forgive Sophia, to believe that she had changed and grown from her past mistakes. But there was also a part of me that couldn't shake the fear of being hurt all over again.

And amidst the tangled web of emotions and uncertainties, there was a glimmer of hope shining through the darkness. A hope that maybe, just maybe, we could find a way to overcome the scars of our past and build something beautiful together.