---- moved. Her white electric toothbrush stood silent, untouched. The skincare bottles on her vanity remained full- no longer emptying, no longer being replaced. And when the very last bellflower in the vase finally withered and turned brown, something in him shattered. Because that was when it hit him with blinding and excruciating clarity, Nikki had discarded him. He felt as though the soul had been drained from his body. He stopped going to work. Stopped seeing anyone. He stayed home. And drank. And drank. Until the alcohol eroded more than just his ---- memory-it tore through his body, triggering a massive stomach bleed. Had his parents not shown up that day, planning to confront him and forcibly clean up the mess his life had become, he might not have made it to the hospital in time. Now, lying in a hospital bed, pale and hollow, with Lily sobbing beside him, their child in her arms, and his parents berating him in relentless waves, he had a moment of eerie clarity. He had to find her. No matter where she was, no matter how far-he had to find Nikki. And he had to beg for her forgiveness. When J arrived at the airport, I still didn't know where I was going. ---- I walked up to the counter and asked the agent what flights still had available seats. They listed a few destinations. One name made my heart stop. Slovenia. The only country in the world with "love" hidden in its name. It had been my first trip abroad. It was where Levi had proposed. We had made so many memories there. So many moments, as vivid as yesterday. Rowing across Lake Bled beneath a sky the color of sapphires. Locking our names onto the bridge of love. Climbing nameless hills, hands and knees scraping on wild grass and moss. ---- Collapsing into bed in charming little inns, where the decor was romantic and the walls heard our laughter. Doing it once-passionately-in the French-style ladies' powder room of a rural vineyard... There had been so many firsts in Slovenia. So many impulsive, reckless, beautiful things. Truthfully, Levi had reshaped me in more ways than I cared to admit. T hesitated for only a second. Then I bought the ticket. I wasn't returning to bathe in old memories. I was going back to rewrite them, one by one.