Chapter 42
AKIRO It's been a week since I told Tamaro everything—about Serene, the tattoos, the feelings I never meant to grow. Seven days of stillness. Of sharing space but not each other. We're together all the time. Rehearsals, meetings, meals. But not once has he truly looked at me. He nods when needed. He answers when someone else speaks. But when it's just us, silence floods in like water under a locked door. And I deserve it. I watch him from across the room as he sits curled up on the couch, headphones in, eyes lost in something I can't reach anymore. There's a wall between us now. Not built from anger—but from grief. The worst part is knowing I'm the one who poured the concrete. He used to laugh with me in the quiet. Now we exist inside it. Every time I think about touching his should
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