There wasn’t as much of her stuff in his house as she thought there would be.  It had seemed like there was something of her in every room, but her presence was fading just as her spirit was.

Gia taped another box shut before letting out a breath and moving the hair out of her eyes.  She was crouched down, her weight resting on the balls of her feet.  With a grunt she fell back onto her butt and proceeded to sprawl out on the plush carpet of the bedroom.  She stared at the ceiling fan and got lost in the swirling blades.

It didn’t feel real.

It hadn’t become real to her yet, and even though her pick-up truck was slowing getting filled with boxes, she still couldn’t make it sink in.  She was moving out, and it was really over.

She had Justin had sat on the couch until he didn’t have any time to spare before his flight.  She had asked him if it was truly over, if this was it for them, but he couldn’t give her a straight answer.  He still loved her, he said, and that’s what was making this whole situation so difficult.  He had to leave so she could save herself, he said, he couldn’t stand to watch her break anymore.

He had said a lot last night.  He had apologized, and he had cried, and he had made wishes…but he still left.

She knew that she really couldn’t blame him.  Her depression had become too much for him to handle, and it was unfair of her to ask him to try anymore.  But it didn’t stop the pain of watching someone else she loved walk away from her.

Justin had promised that he would be there for her whatever she needed.  He told her that she could call anytime she wanted to.  He even said that his mother wanted her to come to Tennessee when she finished up with her therapy.  That made Gia cry.  It was like this beautiful man, this wonderful life, was being held in front of her face and out of her reach.  He was saying that he loved her, but he couldn’t be with her.  He was saying that he wanted to help her out, but she couldn’t lean on him anymore.

It was all giving her a headache, and to add to that all of this lifting was making her body ache.  With a push, Gia raised herself off of the floor and onto her bare feet.  She glanced around the bedroom to see if she had forgotten anything, but seeing nothing she lifted the last of the boxes and headed toward the stairs.

A few more steps and it would truly be over.

~*~

The thing Justin loved most about Georgia was her sense of humor, her ability to laugh at herself.  It was true that most of the women he dated all had a sense of humor, but Gia was different.  She was goofy and down to earth, and she had the ability to keep him laughing.  He loved spending time with her listening to her stories and watching her face crinkle with barely contained giggles. 

He had fallen in love with her laugh before he knew he had fallen in love with her.  He didn’t expect anything from her when they first met.  In fact, he was just using her for an excuse to get out of his own house without looking like a complete ass.

When they had gotten to the store to get a shirt, Justin had been planning to grab a cheap t-shirt and call it even.  Gia had another idea.  She refused to buy him a plain t-shirt and proceeded to search for the gaudiest piece of fabric she could find.  She ended up buying one of those shirts that had the figure of a bikini clad woman with no head, one that would make Justin look like he was a woman with massive breasts. 

He laughed his way to the register.  She bought it for him, but he thought that going out in public wouldn’t be a very good idea, so he grabbed himself something so he could change.  But he took that t-shirt everywhere he went.  It reminded him of her ability to laugh at most anything, especially him.

Justin shook his head and glanced at the clock on the wall.  Thinking about Gia was making his heart ache.

He missed her, but the shell of a woman that had resided in his house was not the girl that he had fallen in love with.  He knew that leaving was the right thing, even though it hurt like hell.

He wanted to be with her through it all.  He wanted to stand by her side and help her through this, but he couldn’t.  Gia needed to find her own strength and save herself, or she would never get better.  Justin knew that if he helped her with this depression she would forever be depending on him to get he through, and neither of them could live like that.

He did love her.  He had imagined that she was it for him, and part of him still believed that it was possible too.

He didn’t know if it was wrong or not, but he hoped that she could come out of this and the two of them could fall in love again. 

He didn’t know when it had happened, but he had turned into a romantic sap, and he was sure it had something to do with the girl he had left behind.