When I woke, the world was still gray. The kind of gray that blurs the line between dawn and the lingering weight of night. My eyes blinked open slowly, adjusting to the faint light spilling across the room, not sunlight exactly, just the pale wash of an early hour.
Damian was there.
He stood by the window, his back to me, the outline of his shoulders drawn against the light seeping through the half-drawn curtains. His posture was rigid, hands shoved deep into his pockets, head bowed just slightly, like he’d been standing there for hours, staring at something far away that I couldn’t see.
For a moment, I just watched him. The way his chest rose and fell, the quiet stillness that filled the room. He hadn’t noticed I was awake yet, or maybe he had and didn’t want to turn around.
And in t
