YOU'RE MATTER TO ME

POV - NOELLE

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The Greatest Love Story of All

I had spent most of my life feeling invisible.

Maybe that’s why I loved Lucas.

Because he saw me.

When the world looked past me, when I felt like I didn’t matter—he was always there, pulling me back from the shadows. Making me feel like I was something.

Like I was someone.

But loving someone who didn’t love themselves?

That was a different kind of pain.

---

I wasn’t always like this.

There was a time when I laughed without thinking, when I believed I was enough.

But life had a way of erasing pieces of me.

Heartbreak. Disappointments. The quiet moments where I was made to feel small.

I started to shrink.

I let people walk over me.

I let my voice fade into the background.

And the worst part?

I convinced myself that it was okay.

That being invisible was easier than being too much.

---

Lucas never let it go unnoticed.

"Why do you always apologize for things that aren’t your fault?" he asked one day, his brows drawn together in frustration.

I shrugged, avoiding his gaze. "Habit, I guess."

His frown deepened. "No, Noelle. It’s because you don’t think you matter."

My breath hitched.

"Maybe I don’t."

Silence stretched between us, thick and heavy.

And then, in the gentlest voice, he whispered—

"You do to me."

---

Lucas was always there, holding me together when I fell apart.

But love alone doesn’t fix everything.

Because no matter how many times he told me I mattered—no matter how many ways he tried to show me—I couldn’t believe it.

Not when I couldn’t see it for myself.

And that hurt him.

I could see it in the way his smile faded, in the exhaustion behind his eyes.

One night, after another argument—one where I doubted myself, where I questioned why he even bothered—he sighed, running a frustrated hand through his hair.

"I don’t know how to make you see what I see," he admitted, voice raw. "I love you, Noelle. But I can’t be the only one fighting for you."

Tears burned my eyes. "I’m trying."

His gaze softened. But when he spoke, his voice was barely above a whisper.

"Then try harder."

---

Losing him scared me.

But more than that?

Losing myself scared me even more.

So, I started small.

I spoke up when I wanted something.

I stopped apologizing for taking up space.

I looked in the mirror, forcing myself to see someone worthy.