The house felt smaller without Liam.
Not physically, our apartment was still cramped, the walls still thin, the ceiling still cracked in the same places, but emotionally. Like something essential had been removed, leaving behind an echo that followed me from room to room.
I hadn’t realized how much space he’d taken up inside me until he was gone.
I lay awake most of the night, staring at the dark, my phone face down on the bedside table. I told myself I wasn’t waiting for a message. I told myself I was relieved to be away from the tension, the scrutiny, the way Dean’s presence had begun to unravel me.
None of it felt true.
Morning came too quickly.
I got up quietly, careful not to wake my mother, and stood at the sink brushing my teeth while my thoughts drifted back to a familiar rou
