To the couple that broke up in front of me, I'm sorry - I tried to tune it out. I tried to make busy, mumbling the words of the book I was reading aloud and tossing in my seat to face the other way. I tried looking for somewhere else to move to, checking if anyone around me felt as awkward as I did. I tried to look for the headphones that I had absentmindedly forgotten to bring.
Then, I tried as hard as I could to listen in on the conversation, zoning in on your words and tuning out the noise of the cafe.
Then, I tried not to cry.
To the couple that broke up in front of me, I hope it works out for you both. The love and respect you have for one another felt astonishing. To admit to being overbearing, dependent on each other and having a burning love for one another that may have burnt out too soon, is something I don't think I could've done at that age. At 19 and 20, I couldn't have mustered up the courage to admit fault and much less to apologise for it sincerely without adding an infamous 'but' at the end.
To the couple that broke up in front of me, god do I know how it feels. Needing to explore and venture through university without feeling tied down, even if it was just to make friends, yet feeling, at the core of your soul, that this human was your right person, wrong time. Trying everything you could, before you couldn't anymore.
To the couple that broke up in front of me, you'll be okay. Maybe it feels like you've got the weight of the world on your shoulders, that your soulmate is walking away from you, that you'll never find someone that gets you like that. Maybe you even feel relief. Maybe you feel a mix of everything and nothing at all.
To the couple that broke up in front of me, you'll question your decision, especially when you move onto dating the finest douchebags the world has to offer. You'll question if that was your capacity to love, if anyone will ever have that love for you again, if you've made a mistake and that's okay.
All I know is that if it was meant to be, it would be. That might be a few months later when you've settled into uni, a few years later, after you graduated, a few decades later when you randomly bump into each other at the grocery store. Whatever it is, this relationship will be a benchmark for future ones - does this person make you feel as loved and as secure, as excited about the future, as committed to growing with you. And for that, you'll be grateful.