The two weeks before her father's visit passed quickly.
Damian was different in them. Not dramatically. Not in any way that announced itself. But she felt it in the quality of his presence. Something had loosened after the phone call with her father. Some deep internal tension that had been running beneath everything since Saturday had released its grip slightly and what was left was a version of him that was still careful and still controlled but less braced.
Less waiting for something to collapse.
She noticed it in small things. He laughed more easily. He reached for her in passing without calculating whether he should. He came to find her in the evenings without the managed casualness he used to use to justify it to himself. He simply came because he wanted to and had stopped pretend
