*"Isaiah sent Brooke a video that shattered her. As she watched, memories of the time she spent with him came rushing back — and with them, the weight of regret. She couldn’t hold it in anymore and broke down, sobbing."

 Brooke stared at her phone as it buzzed against the edge of the kitchen counter. The screen lit up with Isaiah’s name.

For a second, she froze.

She hadn’t heard from him in almost two weeks.

Not after the fight.
Not after the accusations.
Not after the horrible things they both said that night outside his car while rain poured around them like the world itself was trying to wash them apart.

Her stomach twisted.

She almost ignored it.

But then she noticed it wasn’t a text.

It was a video.

Just a simple message underneath:

“You deserve to know the truth.”

Her hands immediately went cold.

Brooke swallowed hard before pressing play.

At first, the screen was shaky and dark. Isaiah was sitting somewhere unfamiliar — maybe his bedroom, maybe his friend’s apartment. His eyes looked swollen like he hadn’t slept in days.

And then he started talking.

“Brooke… if you’re watching this, it means I finally got the courage to send it.”

Her chest tightened instantly.

“I know you hate me right now. Maybe you should. But there’s things I never said because I thought protecting you meant staying quiet.”

Brooke’s breathing slowed.

The room suddenly felt too small.

Isaiah looked down for a moment before continuing.

“I messed up. A lot. But none of it changes how much I loved you.”

Loved.

Not love.

The word stabbed her directly in the heart.

As the video continued, Isaiah began replaying moments she thought he’d forgotten.

The night they first met.
The stupid joke she made that caused him to laugh soda through his nose.
The long drives with music blasting while she rested her head against the car window.
The mornings he’d wake her up with voice notes because she hated alarms.
The way he used to hold her hand in crowded places without even thinking about it.

And suddenly…

Every memory came flooding back all at once.

Brooke remembered his hoodie wrapped around her shoulders on cold nights.
The way he’d kiss her forehead when she was anxious.
How safe she felt laying against his chest listening to his heartbeat.
How he used to whisper,
“You’re my peace.”

Tears blurred her vision.

She paused the video for a second, pressing her trembling fingers against her mouth.

Why did it still hurt this much?

Why did hearing his voice feel like reopening a wound that never actually healed?

She tried to breathe, but another memory crashed into her.

The beach trip.

Isaiah carrying her into the ocean while she screamed at him to put her down.
Both of them laughing so hard they could barely stand.
Him staring at her afterward like she was the only girl in the world.

Brooke let out a broken sob.

Because somewhere along the way…
they lost that version of themselves.

The video continued.

“I know everybody thinks I stopped caring,” Isaiah said quietly. “But the truth is… I pushed you away because I thought I was ruining your life.”

Brooke shook her head instantly through tears.

“No… no…”

But Isaiah kept talking.

“I saw how tired you were becoming. Always defending me. Always fixing things. I started believing you deserved someone better.”

Her knees weakened.

She slid down onto the kitchen floor, clutching the phone tightly.

Because that was the cruelest part.

He never understood.

She never wanted perfect.

She just wanted him.

Isaiah wiped his eyes in the video before giving a small, broken laugh.

“You remember that night at the carnival? When you told me if we ever ended, it would destroy you?”

Brooke’s breath caught.

Of course she remembered.

They had been sitting at the top of the Ferris wheel.
The city lights glowing beneath them.
Her hand wrapped tightly around his.

And she had said it jokingly.

Or at least she thought she did.

“If you ever break my heart, Isaiah, I’ll never recover.”

Back then he smiled and kissed her forehead.

Now hearing him repeat it shattered her completely.

“I didn’t believe you then,” he whispered in the video. “But now I think maybe I broke both of us.”

Brooke burst into tears.

Not quiet tears.

Not graceful tears.

The kind that ripped through your entire body.

The kind that made breathing painful.

She curled forward on the floor, sobbing into her hands as years of love, anger, regret, and heartbreak exploded out of her at once.

Because she missed him.

God… she missed him so much.

And no matter how angry she tried to be…
a part of her still loved him in ways she couldn’t explain.

The video reached its final moments.

Isaiah stared silently into the camera for several seconds before speaking again.

“There’s one more thing.”

Brooke looked up through blurry eyes.

“I kept every picture of us.”

Another crack in her heart.

“Every video. Every voicemail. Every stupid little memory.” He smiled weakly. “I couldn’t delete you, Brooke. I tried.”

She covered her mouth again, crying harder.

“I don’t expect forgiveness,” he said softly. “I just needed you to know… none of it was fake. Not one second.”

Then his expression broke completely.

“And if someday you stop hating me… I hope you remember that.”

The screen went black.

Silence filled the room.

Brooke stared at her reflection on the dark phone screen, tears streaming endlessly down her face.

For a long time, she couldn’t move.

Couldn’t think.

Couldn’t even wipe away the tears.

All she could feel was the crushing weight of everything they once were.

And the horrifying realization that sometimes love doesn’t disappear…

Even after it destroys you.