RUN FROM ME

CHAPTER 14 — CLOSER THAN BEFORE

CHAPTER 14 — CLOSER THAN BEFORE

POV: ALESSANDRO

The distance didn’t disappear

She didn’t retreat fully.

She just… softened at the edges.

That was new.

And dangerous in a way I couldn’t ignore.

She was already at the table when I walked in.

Same place.

Same quiet posture.

But her presence didn’t feel as far as it had days ago.

She looked up this time.

Not immediately.

But she did.

That alone mattered more than it should have.

“Morning,” Isabella said lightly, breaking the silence.

Sera responded softly, “Good morning.”

Her voice was still careful.

But not closed off anymore.

I noticed that immediately.

I always noticed everything about her now.

I sat across from her.

She didn’t look away this time.

Not fully.

Just briefly.

Like she was still deciding how much of herself to give to the moment.

That uncertainty… was better than rejection.

It meant she was still here.

Still present.

Still reachable.

Isabella leaned back in her chair. “I’m stealing her later today.”

Sera blinked slightly. “Stealing?”

“To go outside,” Isabella clarified. “You need air that doesn’t belong to this house.”

Sera hesitated.

Then her eyes flicked briefly toward me.

Not asking permission.

Just… checking.

That was new too.

I didn’t stop her.

“Go,” I said simply.

A pause.

Then she nodded.

Later, I found her near the garden corridor.

She was standing alone again, but not in the same way as before.

Not distant.

Just thinking.

When I approached, she didn’t step away immediately.

That small detail mattered more than anything else.

“You’re quieter today,” I said.

“I’m always quiet,” she replied softly.

“No,” I corrected.

That made her look at me.

Properly this time.

There was a pause between us.

Not heavy like before.

Softer.

She turned slightly toward the railing, fingers resting lightly against it.

“I’m not sure what I’m supposed to feel here anymore,” she admitted quietly.

That honesty was rare.

I didn’t interrupt it.

So she continued.

“Some days it feels safe… and some days I remember everything I heard.”

Her fingers tightened slightly.

“I don’t know how both things can be true at the same time.”

I understood what she meant.

More than she knew.

But I didn’t answer immediately.

Because Sera doesn’t need control forced onto her thoughts.

She needs space to exist inside them without pressure.

“I’m not asking you to understand everything,” I said finally.

A pause.

“But I am asking you not to disappear inside your own head again.”

She looked at me.

Longer this time.

Not afraid.

Not distant.

Just… present.

Then something shifted again.

Small.

Subtle.

She stepped a fraction closer without realizing it.

Not enough to call it trust.

But enough to break the old distance.

“I’m trying,” she said quietly.

That sentence stayed in the air longer than expected.

Because it wasn’t resistance anymore.

It was effort.

The wind moved through the garden softly.

She didn’t flinch at it this time.

That detail didn’t go unnoticed.

“You’re getting used to this place,” I said.

Her gaze lowered slightly.

“I don’t know if that’s a good thing,” she replied.

I studied her for a moment.

“You don’t need to decide that yet.”

Silence.

But not uncomfortable.

Not anymore.

Isabella appeared at the far end of the corridor, calling for her lightly.

Sera turned to go.

But paused briefly.

That pause wasn’t hesitation anymore.

It was awareness.

Then she looked back at me once.

Just once.

And left.

I stayed where I was longer than necessary.

Because something had changed again.

Not enough to call it stability.

But enough to call it progress.

Sera wasn’t gone.

She wasn’t running.

She wasn’t shutting me out completely anymore.

She was staying in between.

And for now…

that was enough.

But I already knew Sera well enough to understand one thing clearly:

She doesn’t stay in between forever.

Eventually… she chooses a side.

And I intended for that side to still include me.