it never really got better. i just stopped talking about it. i learned how to smile while the carrying the pain. i learned to say "i'm fine" even when i wasn't. not because i healed, but because i realized not everyone knows how to listen, and not everyone cares enough to stay. so i kept things to myself. i cried in private. i healed in silence. some days are still heavy, and some wounds still ache. but i keep going. not because it's easy, but because i have no other choice. maybe one day it will truly get better. until then, i'm learning how to live with it.