Sebastian stood outside my building like something pulled straight out of a life I had already buried. The moment I saw him, my stomach dropped, a sharp, instinctive reaction I couldn’t control no matter how much time had passed.
I gave myself exactly three seconds, just enough to take in the details I didn’t want to notice, his hands hanging loosely at his sides, the faint grey threading through his hair, the way his shoulders seemed weighed down by something I couldn’t see but could somehow feel.
Then I shut it all down, forcing everything back into place before it could surface, and walked straight toward him.
I stopped about four feet away, close enough to catch the familiar trace of his cologne, a scent I hadn’t realized I still remembered, and far enough to hold onto what little
