Work Text:
Obi-Wan stood by the window, the faint orange glow of the streetlamp tracing the sharp angles of his face. His arms were crossed tightly over his chest, fingers digging into the fabric of his sleeves like he was trying to hold himself together.
Outside, the world looked so still, so deceptively peaceful, while everything inside him warred for control. Cody sat on the edge of the couch, leaning forward with a growing sense of unease. He watched Obi-Wan like someone watching a storm roll in. Quietly, warily, bracing for the moment it would finally break.
“Obi-Wan?” Cody’s voice was careful, soft. “What’s going on?”
Obi-Wan didn’t turn around. His voice was low, hollow. “I think we should break up.”
Silence dropped between them like a glass shattering on tile. Cody blinked, then slowly rose to his feet.
“Excuse me?” he said, disbelief cracking through his tone.
Obi-Wan turned now, eyes rimmed with red but dry, jaw clenched like he was holding back more than just words. “It’s not working, I’m not what you need. I’m unnecessary baggage. You deserve better.”
Cody’s heart twisted. He took a step forward. “Is this about what happened with Anakin? I though you were getting help—”
“It’s not about Anakin,” Obi-Wan cut in, voice rising before he reined it back, “and it’s not about anything you did. This is me. It’s always been me. People either leave me or die, Cody. I don’t know how to hold onto things, and I’m not going to sit here and wait for the day I lose you too.”
Cody’s expression darkened, his eyes glinting with a flare of frustration. “So your big plan is to preemptively destroy something good because you’re scared it won’t last?”
“I’m not scared.” Obi-Wan’s voice broke despite himself. “I’m certain. You should be with someone who doesn’t look at love and expect it to vanish. Someone who can give you more than fragments.”
Cody was in front of him now, standing close, close enough to touch. He didn’t, not yet. “You think I don’t know what I chose?” he said, voice quieter now but laced with something fierce. “I chose you, Obi-Wan. With your sharp edges and quiet nights. With the weight you carry and the way you still try to protect people from it. You think I don’t see the cracks? I see all of you. And I still want you.”
Obi-Wan laughed, but there was no joy in it. Only pain. “That’s the problem. You deserve someone who can love you with a whole heart. Mine’s long been broken.”
“You don’t need to be whole to love someone,” Cody said, stepping closer, finally reaching out. His fingers brushed Obi-Wan’s arm, grounding. “You just need to stay. Stop trying to run from something that’s already yours.”
Obi-Wan’s shoulders trembled, his entire body locked in indecision. He stood there for a moment, staring at Cody as though trying to memorize the curve of his face, the warmth in his eyes—trying to carve him into memory before he left. But despite the desperate tug in his chest, his feet felt like lead, unwilling to move.
Then, something inside him broke. He exhaled shakily, his hands falling limply by his sides as he stepped back, putting distance between them.
Cody’s breath hitched. “Obi-Wan, no.” His voice cracked as he reached out, but it was too late. Obi-Wan was already turning away, his back to him, his face a tight mask of pain.
“I can’t stay,” Obi-Wan said, voice raw. “I’m not good enough for you. I’m never going to be enough. I’ll ruin you too, just like I ruined everyone else.”
Cody’s heart skipped a beat. “Stop. Don’t do this. You’re not ruined, you’re—”
“I'm broken, Cody!” Obi-Wan snapped, spinning to face him, the frustration and hopelessness clear in his eyes. “I can’t love you the way you deserve to be loved. You’re going to wake up one day and realize that you’re better off without me. You’ll leave me. They all do.”
“I won’t leave you!” Cody shouted, stepping forward, his voice trembling. “Why can’t you see that? I chose you because I see you, Obi-Wan. I see your hurt, your scars, and I want to be here. I want to help you, but you keep pushing me away like you don’t trust me. You’re just scared.”
“I’m not scared,” Obi-Wan muttered bitterly, his eyes glistening. “I’m not stupid. I know how this ends. I’ll just drag you down with me. One day, you’ll look at me and realize you can’t do it anymore, that all the love in the world can’t fix this.” He gestured to himself, his chest heaving. “I’m too much of a mess. I’m poison.”
“Stop.” Cody’s voice broke. Tears welled up, blurring his vision as he took a desperate step toward Obi-Wan, his hand trembling as he reached for him. “Please don’t do this to us. You’re not poison. You’re you, and I love you. I can’t keep watching you destroy yourself like this.”
Obi-Wan looked at him, and for a moment, it was like his walls crumbled, like the full weight of his own self-loathing bled through his fragile resolve. His lips quivered, tears finally spilling from his eyes, but he wiped them away quickly, as if to fight off the vulnerability.
“I don’t want to hurt you, Cody,” he whispered, his voice shaking. “I never wanted to hurt you.”
“Then stay.” Cody’s chest tightened with a desperate ache, his hands now shaking as he reached for Obi-Wan, grabbing his wrist. “I’m fighting for you. Why won’t you fight for us?”
Obi-Wan pulled his arm back, stepping away from him, his gaze hollow. He shook his head slowly, the tears streaking down his face now uncontrolled. “I don’t know how. I don’t know how to be the person you need me to be. I’m not whole, Cody. I’m just broken pieces.”
Cody’s breath came fast and uneven. “I don’t need you to be whole. I just need you to be here.” His voice cracked on the last word. “Please.”
Obi-Wan wiped his face, but it didn’t stop the tears. He looked at Cody one last time, pain and regret tearing through him. His body shook from the weight of it all, his body wanting to stay, his mind telling him that leaving was the only way to protect them both.
“I can’t,” Obi-Wan murmured, voice barely audible. “I can’t love you the way you deserve. I’m not enough.”
And then, with a final, defeated look at Cody, eyes full of sorrow and self-loathing, he turned, walking toward the door. His feet moved slowly, dragging with every step like he was wading through thick mud.
Cody’s voice cracked with a raw, heart-wrenching cry. “Obi-Wan! Please…”
But Obi-Wan didn’t stop. He didn’t even turn around.
The door clicked shut behind him with a finality that echoed through the empty room. Cody stood there, trembling, staring at the place where Obi-Wan had stood, his chest tight, the tears he’d been holding back finally breaking free.
He sank to his knees, his hands gripping his hair as the sobs wracked his body. He couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think, just felt like the world had been torn apart, piece by piece.
Obi-Wan had left, and there was nothing Cody could do to fix it.