The past never announced itself.
It didn’t knock.
Didn’t ask permission.
It simply waited until life felt stable… and then struck.
⸻
Jaxon Reed thought he’d learned how to breathe again.
The scholarship reinstated.
The pressure eased.
The campus no longer felt like it was closing in on him.
For the first time in weeks, he and Ava laughed without looking over their shoulders.
They sat on the hood of his car at the edge of campus, coffee cooling between them, the sky blushing pink with sunset.
“You know,” Ava said softly, “we almost forgot how to be normal.”
Jaxon smiled. “Normal is overrated.”
She leaned into him. “Peace isn’t.”
He kissed the top of her head, letting himself believe—just for a moment—that the storm had passed.
That’s when his phone buzzed.
One message.
Unkn
