დ Rosalie დ
It was late when I knocked on Declan’s door. Late enough that the road had gone quiet. Late enough that I should have been home. Late enough that even I knew this was a terrible idea. Still, I stood there with my coat pulled tight around me and waited. The porch light spilled pale gold across the front steps. My pulse beat too fast beneath my skin, but I didn’t leave. I couldn’t. Not when my head was still full of names and lines and structures and all the ugly connections I had spent the evening tracing in my father’s office. The town wasn’t scattered.
It was built.
And suddenly, all I could think about was Declan. About the things he knew without realizing he knew them. The things he said because he thought I was only talking about my mother, my father, and Julian. He wasn
