Warning: Female Vincent
—
Rody had heard the rumors like everyone else. Vanessa Charbonneau. Her name was a permanent fixture on everyone’s lips, her reputation dragging along with her through the college halls like an unwanted shadow. Whispers followed her wherever she went, woven into the fabric of every conversation, every fleeting glance in her direction.
“She’s probably slept with half the campus.”
“I heard she’s already planning to move on from whoever she’s dating now.”
“She’s only after one thing.”
Rody never paid much attention to the gossip. He had his own problems to worry about. Between juggling his part-time job at a coffee shop and keeping up with his classes, his life was a whirlwind of stress and chaos. He couldn’t afford to get caught up in other people’s drama.
But Vanessa… she was different.
The first time Rody had seen her, really seen her, had been at the start of the semester. She wasn’t exactly hard to miss-tall, striking, with an air of confidence that was almost tangible. Her long black hair cascaded down her back in waves, and she had these piercing eyes, dark and unreadable, that seemed to see through everyone. Yet, despite her beauty, there was something closed off about her. She walked the halls with her head held high, not a single crack in her composure, as if the rumors didn’t affect her at all.
He hadn’t expected her to notice him, let alone approach him.
—
It had been a Friday, one of those unremarkable days when Rody was just trying to get through his shift at the coffee shop. The place was quieter than usual, only a few students lingering at tables with their laptops and textbooks. He had been wiping down the counter when he felt a presence beside him.
“Hey,” a soft voice greeted.
Rody looked up, almost dropping the cloth in surprise. It was *her*. Vanessa Charbonneau, standing right in front of him, dressed casually in a grey sweater and black jeans. Her hair was tied back in a loose bun, and she had this… gentle smile that didn’t match the stories he’d heard about her.
“Uh, hi,” Rody managed to stammer, blinking at her as if trying to make sure she was real.
“I’m Vanessa,” she said, her voice as smooth as silk.
“I know,” he replied, immediately regretting how dumb he sounded. Of course, he knew who she was. Everyone did.
“I’ve seen you around campus,” Vanessa continued, leaning slightly against the counter, her dark eyes scanning his face. “And I’ve noticed you work here a lot.”
Rody felt his face heat up under her gaze. “Yeah, gotta pay for tuition somehow,” he joked, trying to hide how flustered he was.
Vanessa’s smile widened, and for a moment, it felt like she was actually *seeing* him-not just as some background character in her life, but as someone worth noticing.
“Well,” she said, her voice dropping slightly, “I was wondering if you’d like to grab coffee sometime. I mean… on your day off, not while you’re working.”
Rody’s brain nearly short-circuited. Was she asking him out? *Vanessa Charbonneau*, the girl who had every guy wrapped around her finger, was asking *him* out?
“I-uh, sure,” he stammered, feeling his heart race. “Yeah, I’d like that.”
Her smile softened, and she tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear. “Great. Tomorrow afternoon?”
“Tomorrow sounds good.”
With a nod, Vanessa gave him one last lingering glance before turning to leave. Rody watched her go, his mind racing with disbelief. It wasn’t until she was completely out of sight that he realized he was still gripping the cloth in his hand.
—
When he told his friends about the date later that evening, their reactions were… less than enthusiastic.
“Vanessa Charbonneau? Seriously, Rody?” His best friend, Richard, leaned back in his chair, giving him a look of sheer disbelief. “You know what people say about her, right?”
“Yeah,” Rody muttered, feeling a knot form in his stomach.
“Look, man,” Richard continued, “she’s probably just looking for a quick fling. I don’t want you getting your hopes up. She’s slept with half the campus already. Don’t let her use you.”
“I’m not an idiot, Richard,” Rody snapped, though his voice wavered. “She seemed… nice.”
“I’m sure she did,” his other friend, Jack, chimed in, his tone dripping with sarcasm. “She’s good at that. She knows how to play people.”
Rody clenched his fists under the table, his mind warring with the conflicting images of Vanessa. The confident, beautiful girl everyone gossiped about versus the soft-spoken woman who had asked him out with a smile that felt *real*.
“You’ll see,” Richard said, his voice softer now. “Just… don’t fall for it, okay?”
—
Despite the warnings, Rody couldn’t stop himself from being excited about the date. The next day, he found himself standing outside the café they had agreed to meet at, feeling more nervous than he had in a long time.
When Vanessa arrived, she looked different from how she did around campus. Gone was the confident, untouchable aura. She seemed more relaxed, more human. They talked for hours, about everything and nothing-classes, favorite books, music, the mundane parts of their lives. And with every passing minute, Rody found himself drawn deeper into her world.
She wasn’t the person everyone said she was. She wasn’t this manipulative, promiscuous girl who only cared about one thing. She was *kind*. She was funny, insightful, and a little bit awkward in a way that made Rody smile.
By the end of the date, he couldn’t understand why people said the things they did about her.
“Thanks for today,” Vanessa said as they walked side by side back to campus. The sun was setting, casting an orange glow over the streets. “I had a really good time.”
“Me too,” Rody replied, feeling a warmth spread through his chest. “We should do this again sometime.”
“I’d like that.”
For a moment, they stood there in comfortable silence, their shoulders almost brushing. Rody glanced at her, noticing how the fading sunlight made her dark eyes gleam. He wanted to say something-anything-to break the silence, but before he could, Vanessa turned to him.
“There’s something I need to tell you,” she said softly, her voice tinged with hesitation. “About… the things people say about me.”
Rody’s heart skipped a beat. “You don’t have to explain,” he began, but she shook her head.
“No, I do,” Vanessa insisted, her eyes downcast. “I know what people think. I know what they say behind my back. And… most of it isn’t true.”
Her voice cracked, just barely, but it was enough for Rody to hear the weight of those rumors. The way they must’ve worn her down over time, chipping away at the confident façade she put up.
“I’ve only ever been with one person,” she confessed, her hands trembling slightly as she spoke. “And it ended… badly. People made assumptions, and I just-” She paused, taking a shaky breath. “I didn’t correct them. I didn’t see the point.”
Rody’s chest tightened. He wanted to reach out, to tell her that he didn’t care about what people said, that he saw her for who she really was. But the words wouldn’t come.
Vanessa let out a bitter laugh, her lips twisting into a sad smile. “I guess I became the person they thought I was. It’s easier that way.”
The silence that followed was heavy, suffocating. Rody didn’t know what to say, how to fix the hurt in her voice. All he knew was that the girl standing before him wasn’t the person everyone else saw. She was *more* than that.
“You don’t have to explain yourself to me,” he said finally, his voice barely above a whisper. “I don’t believe what they say. I never have.”
Vanessa’s eyes flickered to his, and for a moment, the vulnerability in them was almost too much to bear. She looked at him like she was trying to figure him out, trying to decide if he was like everyone else.
And then, without warning, she stepped closer, her breath warm against his skin as she pressed her lips to his. It wasn’t a perfect kiss-it was hesitant, almost fragile, as if she were scared he might pull away.
But Rody didn’t pull away. He kissed her back, his hands reaching up to cup her face gently, as if she might break if he held her too tightly.
When they finally broke apart, Vanessa looked at him with a sadness that cut deeper than anything Rody had ever felt.
“Please don’t make me regret this,” she whispered, her voice trembling with the weight of her fears.
“I won’t,” Rody promised, though part of him wondered if he could really keep that promise. Because no matter how much he wanted to believe that he could save her from the ghosts of her past, there was always the nagging fear that maybe-just maybe-she had already been broken beyond repair.
—
In the weeks that followed, Rody and Vanessa grew closer. They spent more time together, and for a while, it felt like everything was falling into place. But the rumors never stopped.
“They’re still saying things,” Vanessa told him one night, her voice barely audible over the hum of his car engine as they sat parked on a quiet street. The moon hung low in the sky, casting pale light through the windshield. Her hands were clenched tightly in her lap, her gaze fixed on something far beyond the glass, something only she could see.
“What kind of things?” Rody asked, though he already knew. The rumors were impossible to escape. They spread like wildfire, twisting and warping until the truth was lost entirely.
Vanessa let out a hollow laugh, shaking her head. “The usual. That I’m with you because I’m bored. That I’ll move on soon enough, just like I always do. And that… you’re just another name to cross off my list.”
Rody’s hands gripped the steering wheel, knuckles turning white. “They don’t know you,” he said firmly. “They don’t know anything about you.”
“But what if they’re right?” Vanessa’s voice broke, and she turned to look at him, her eyes shining with unshed tears. “What if… deep down, I *am* the person they say I am? What if I’m just… broken?”
Rody’s heart clenched painfully at the sight of her, so strong and composed on the outside, but unraveling in front of him. He had never seen her like this before, and it shattered something inside him. He hated that people had made her feel this way, that they had reduced her to nothing more than a collection of baseless rumors and cruel words.
“You’re not broken,” he said quietly, reaching over to take her hand in his. “And you’re not who they say you are. You’re… Vanessa. You’re kind, and funny, and strong. You’re more than any of that crap people say about you.”
For a moment, she didn’t respond. She just stared down at their hands, her thumb tracing circles against his skin, as if she were trying to memorize the feeling of being held.
“I don’t know how to do this, Rody,” she whispered after a long silence, her voice barely audible. “I don’t know how to be with someone and not… mess it up.”
“You don’t have to know,” Rody said softly. “We’ll figure it out. Together.”
Vanessa’s breath hitched, and she looked up at him, her eyes full of uncertainty and fear. “But what if I hurt you?”
“You won’t.”
Her lips trembled as she tried to hold back her emotions. “But what if I do? What if I can’t help it? I don’t want to… to lose you too.”
“You won’t lose me,” Rody promised, squeezing her hand gently. “I’m not going anywhere.”
But even as he said the words, doubt gnawed at him. Could he really be the one to save her from the weight of her own past? Could he be enough to make her believe that she deserved more than what everyone else said about her?
The silence stretched between them, heavy and suffocating, until Vanessa finally leaned her head against his shoulder, her body trembling with the quiet sobs she was trying to suppress. Rody didn’t say anything. He just held her, his heart breaking for the girl who had been through so much, the girl who didn’t believe she was worth saving.
—
The weeks blurred into months, and for a while, things were good. Rody and Vanessa found a rhythm in their relationship, a quiet understanding that didn’t need words. They spent late nights together, studying in each other’s apartments or going for walks when the campus was empty. For the first time in a long while, Vanessa seemed… happy.
But the rumors never stopped.
“They’re still talking,” Richard had said one afternoon as they sat in the campus cafeteria. “People are saying she’s going to dump you any day now. You sure she’s serious about this?”
Rody felt his stomach twist, but he forced himself to smile. “We’re fine, Richard. She’s not like that.”
His friends didn’t believe him, though. They kept telling him that Vanessa was just using him, that she would eventually break his heart like she had with everyone else. Rody tried to ignore them, but the doubts began to creep in. Every time Vanessa pulled away, even for a moment, those doubts grew louder, feeding on his insecurities.
He wanted to believe her. He wanted to trust that what they had was real, that she wasn’t the person people made her out to be. But the longer they were together, the more he began to see cracks in her façade.
Vanessa would disappear sometimes-no explanation, no warning. She’d just stop answering his texts, her calls going straight to voicemail. When she did come back, she’d apologize, saying she needed space, but Rody couldn’t shake the feeling that she was slipping away from him.
—
It was late one night when everything finally came to a head. Rody had been pacing his apartment, waiting for Vanessa to show up. She had promised she’d come over after her shift at the library, but hours had passed, and there had been no sign of her. His calls went unanswered, and the gnawing pit of anxiety in his chest only grew deeper.
When she finally knocked on his door, her face was pale, her eyes red-rimmed like she had been crying. She stepped inside without a word, her body tense, her hands trembling as she hugged herself tightly.
“Vanessa, where were you?” Rody asked, his voice laced with worry. “I’ve been calling-“
“I’m sorry,” she whispered, cutting him off, her voice hollow. “I just… I needed time to think.”
Rody frowned, his heart racing. “Think about what?”
She didn’t answer right away. Instead, she walked over to the window, staring out at the quiet street below. Her back was to him, and for a moment, she looked so small, so fragile.
“I don’t think I can do this anymore,” she said finally, her voice breaking.
Rody felt the world drop out from under him. “What do you mean?”
Vanessa turned to face him, tears glistening in her eyes. “I can’t be the person you want me to be, Rody. I thought I could, but… I’m not strong enough. I don’t know how to love someone without… destroying everything.”
“Vanessa, that’s not true,” Rody said, stepping closer to her. “You’re not destroying anything. We can get through this-“
“No, we can’t,” she said, shaking her head violently. “I don’t *know* how to be with someone. I don’t know how to love someone without losing myself in the process. And you deserve more than that.”
Rody’s chest tightened as he reached for her, desperate to hold on, to stop her from slipping away. “You don’t have to be perfect, Vanessa. I don’t care about any of that. I just want *you*.”
Tears spilled down her cheeks as she looked up at him, her expression filled with a deep sadness that cut him to the core. “You don’t understand,” she whispered. “I’m scared, Rody. I’m scared of hurting you. I’m scared of getting too close. And I don’t think I can stop it.”
Rody’s heart shattered in his chest. He could see the fear in her eyes, the way she was trying so hard to protect herself, to protect him, but he didn’t want to let go.
“I love you,” he said, his voice breaking. “And I know you love me too.”
Vanessa shook her head, stepping back from him, her hands trembling. “Maybe I do. But I’m not enough, Rody. I’m never going to be enough.”
With those words, she turned and walked out the door, leaving Rody standing there, his heart in pieces on the floor.
And for the first time, he realized that maybe-just maybe-he couldn’t save her after all.
—
That night, as he sat alone in his apartment, Rody thought about all the things he could have said, all the ways he could have tried harder to keep her. But in the end, he knew that no matter how much he loved Vanessa, some wounds ran too deep for anyone to heal.
And as the echoes of her footsteps faded from his memory, Rody realized that loving someone didn’t always mean saving them. Sometimes, loving someone meant letting them go.
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