The door clicked softly shut behind me as I stepped out of the room, but not before grabbing the bottle from my desk — the one half-drained from earlier, the amber liquid still clinging to the glass like a stubborn vice. I took a long pull from it as I padded barefoot down the hallway, the warmth crawling down my throat and settling into my chest like something close to calm.
I pushed open the front door and stepped out into the night.
The air was still, heavy with spring rain that hadn’t yet fallen, and the moon lit up the yard like a ghostlight.
I took another swig, slower this time, letting the burn remind me I was still breathing. I didn’t want them to wake her. Not tonight. Not after she finally let her walls down and fell asleep in my bed like she belonged there. Like she wasn’t
