A Change of Heart

Hange walked through the front door, dropping their bag on the floor as they scanned the room for any sign of me. The apartment was quiet, the only sound the hum of the refrigerator in the kitchen. They had expected me to be there, waiting for them, perhaps cooking dinner or watching TV. But the living room was empty, and a sense of unease began to creep up their spine. As they made their way to the bedroom, they noticed that my bag was gone, and a piece of paper on the bed caught their eye. They walked over to it, and their gaze fell on the scribbled note. The words blurred together at first, but as they focused, their expression changed from curiosity to shock. "I am sorry but I can’t handle it anymore you keep bossing me around it keeps agitating me I don’t think this will not work anymore," they read, their voice barely above a whisper. The words stung, and for a moment, they felt like they had been punched in the gut. Hange's eyes scanned the room, taking in the empty space where my sensory toys and clothes used to be. They realized that I was gone, and that they had driven me away. A wave of regret washed over them, and they felt a pang of guilt. They had been so caught up in their own world, their own expectations, that they had neglected mine. They thought back to all the times they had spoken to me condescendingly, treating me like a servant rather than a partner. They remembered the way they had ordered me around, never considering how their words and actions might affect me. And they realized that I had been trying to tell them, to warn them, but they had ignored the signs. Hange's gaze fell on the note again, and this time, they saw the pain and desperation behind the words. They felt a lump form in their throat as they thought about how they had made me feel, about how they had treated me. They had been so blind to my needs, so deaf to my cries for help. As the reality of the situation sunk in, Hange felt a sense of despair wash over them. They had lost me, the person they claimed to love, and they didn't know how to get me back. They looked around the empty room, feeling a sense of loneliness and regret. They knew they had to do something, but they didn't know where to start. For the first time, Hange saw me not as a burden, not as a responsibility, but as a person, a person with needs and feelings, a person who deserved to be treated with kindness and respect. And they knew that they had to make things right, to find a way to make amends, to prove to me that they were willing to change, to be the partner I deserved.