-POV Derby
The meeting room felt smaller now, like the walls had quietly moved inward while I wasn’t paying attention. Jordan’s arms were still around me, solid and warm, one hand slowly stroking my back in the same steady rhythm he had kept through every sob, every shaky breath, every crack that had finally broken open inside me. My face was still pressed against his chest, the fabric of his shirt damp from my tears, but the storm had quieted. Not gone — it would never be completely gone — but it had settled into something quieter, something I could almost breathe through.
I didn’t move.
I couldn’t.
Because in the silence that followed my breakdown, something inside me shifted. Not dramatically. Not with fireworks or sudden clarity. It was quieter than that. Deeper. Like a door I had
