The healer leaves them alone again.
No instructions this time. No boundaries drawn. Just silence and everything that has already been said, hanging thick in the air like something that refuses to settle.
Willow doesn’t move at first.
Neither do I.
The room feels different now. Not tense in the way it was before. Not sharp. But raw.
Open.
Like something has been cut open and left exposed, not to harm, but to finally heal.
I don’t know where to start. For the first time in longer than I can remember... I don’t have control of the moment. And I don’t try to take it.
Willow exhales softly. It’s shaky. But steadier than before.
“I didn’t think I would say all of that,” she murmurs. Her voice is quiet. Worn. But not breaking anymore.
I step closer. Slowly. Carefully. Not closing the di
