EMILY
Ever since I brought up his mom, Nicholas had been… off.
It wasn’t something I could explain. He still kissed me each morning before he left for the office, lips warm against mine, like nothing had changed. We still stayed up watching movies some nights, laughing at dumb jokes or pretending we cared about plots we couldn’t follow because we were too busy stealing glances. But beneath it all, something was different.
The way his eyes sometimes didn’t quite meet mine. The way his smile flickered too quickly. It was in the silence between our words, a space that used to feel comfortable, now tinged with something… something unsaid.
We were curled up on the couch, some animated movie playing.
I turned to him. “Is there something going on with you?”
Nicholas didn’t look at me righ
