you are corrosive and I am eroding and soon there will be nothing left.

"I'm sorry for the ways I sometimes treated you."
First I said, "who is this?" because I had deleted your number. But I knew who it was. I knew immediately. No one else would word a sentence so carefully.
Then I texted back your name. With a period at the end of it. Like this. I started a load of laundry, I talked to my roommate, and then I decided that it wasn't enough.

And that's when I cleansed my phone of you.

I deleted your apology from my phone. Then I deleted my response. Then I deleted the number from my message log. You leave no trace.
I don't feel like analyzing why you would choose now to say this. I can come up with a half dozen reasons so quickly, and if I thought longer I'm sure I could make it to a dozen. I don't want to think about why, why now, what you hope to accomplish, or anything along those lines. It amazes me how fucking smart you can be but how dumb you keep yourself.
Dumb. Words. Dumb. Actions. Dumb.
I love you and I let you take advantage of it.
No.
My first instinct was to reply to the text with that. Just "no."
I am going away on Thursday. I will be gone for just over one month. I was looking forward to not hearing from you, to eradicating you from my mind and emotions. You have some kind of sixth sense that allows you to pick the time when I am starting to feel strong enough to put you aside. That's when you pop back up again. You are asking me to chase you.
No.
You hurt me.
I let you.
I can't let it happen again.