THE QUIET NEXT DOOR

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: DISTANCE

Ava curled up on her sofa, blanket draped around her shoulders, and stared at the ceiling. The hallway moments with Elias kept replaying in her mind, each word, each glance, each small touch—light but heavy at the same time.

She wanted to believe in the step-by-step promise they had made, but her heart still felt tangled. Leo’s sudden appearance earlier that week had cracked open old fears she thought she’d sealed long ago. The ease she’d felt with Elias suddenly collided with memories she didn’t want to revisit—smiles she had given too freely, promises she had made too young, moments of hurt she’d never fully let go of.

Claire had called earlier, checking in. Ava had listened silently as her friend chatted about mundane things—coffee recipes, a new book she’d picked up—but each word from Claire reminded her that life was moving forward, whether she felt ready or not.

Ava knew she was avoiding more than just the hallway. She was avoiding acknowledging the weight of her own feelings. She wanted Elias, desperately, but the fear of losing control—of letting him in too quickly or being reminded too sharply of the past—kept her frozen.

Her phone buzzed. She hesitated, hand hovering over the screen. A message from Elias:

Thinking about you. Hope you’re okay.

Her chest tightened. She wanted to type back immediately, reassure him, let him know she was still present. But she paused. Didn’t want to seem desperate. Didn’t want to seem vulnerable.

Instead, she set the phone aside.

Ava realized, painfully, that distance had a way of feeling like protection, even when it wasn’t. She wasn’t pushing Elias away intentionally; she was trying to hold herself together long enough to understand what she truly wanted.

She stood and walked to her window, watching the lights in the neighboring apartments flicker on and off. Somewhere, across the hall, Elias’s presence lingered in her mind more strongly than the streetlights outside. She wanted to reach for him, to let him know she was thinking of him—but fear whispered louder than desire.

The weight of her own walls pressed down, but for the first time, Ava acknowledged the truth: she wanted to dismantle them. Slowly. Carefully. But she wanted him.

And that desire, quiet and insistent, refused to be ignored.