I set the last box on the floor with a thud, the sound echoing in the half-empty apartment. The walls smelled new, and the air carried that strange mix of new beginnings and unfinished business. I put my hands on my hips, catching my last breath.
Sebastian was behind me, moving another box, his presence filling the silence like a shadow I couldn't shake. In the last few hours, he'd been… different. Not exactly distant, but reserved, as if something was weighing on him and he didn't want to share it. I caught myself watching him when I thought he wasn't looking at me: the way his jaw was clenched, the way he avoided my gaze more than usual. He was helping me, yes, but there was something about his movements, about his silence, that made me wonder if he really wanted to be there.
I dismiss
