Yulia could have wept with relief when Rowan appeared in the doorway a few hours after she had disappeared off out to see her boyfriend; Yulia had been half convinced that she wouldn’t be coming back. Her relief was short lived though, as it was obvious that something had happened to her.
Rowan had been crying, her face was blotchy and tearstained, and was in pain again judging by how carefully she was moving. Yulia asked if she was ok of course, but got the standard answer of “fine”, which they both knew was a lie.
They both went to bed quite early that night and for once it wasn’t just Yulia laying there awake in the dark. She wanted to ask Rowan what had happened, but held her tongue; if Rowan wanted her to know then she would tell her.
After a dissatisfying night’s sleep, Yulia wa
