They argued about rent.
Not loudly.
Not cruelly.
But with the kind of edge that makes the room feel smaller.
Ethan stood at the kitchen table, calculator app open, a half-filled spreadsheet glowing on his laptop.
“We’re going to be short,” he said flatly. “Like—actually short. I can pull from my savings for a few months, but after that—”
“I can pick up more hours at the shop,” Jace offered.
“You already work late most nights.”
Jace shrugged, leaning against the counter. “Then I work more.”
Ethan rubbed his face. “I didn’t leave my job just to watch you burn out.”
“Maybe I don’t care about burning out,” Jace snapped.
The silence that followed was heavier than either expected.
Jace sighed. “Sorry. That came out wrong.”
Ethan closed the laptop. “No. It didn’t.”
---
They didn’t
