I know something is wrong before I even open my phone.
It’s the quiet.
Not the good kind. Not the soft, safe kind. The kind that feels like something is holding its breath.
Ethan is in the other room. I can hear him talking. Low voice. Measured. That version of him again. The one that sounds like nothing ever touches him.
I hate that version a little.
I stand in his kitchen, holding a mug I’m not drinking from. My fingers are warm but the rest of me feels… off. Like my body got here before my mind did.
My phone buzzes.
Mara.
I almost smile. Almost.
Then I see her message.
“Don’t panic.”
My stomach drops immediately.
I open the link.
And there it is.
A picture of me.
Of us.
Outside his building. Me stepping out. Him behind me. That exact moment where he almost reached for me
