The forest behind the council building was quiet in that strange way silence becomes a sound of its own.
Birds hushed.
Leaves still.
The wind held its breath.
Like the world knew I needed the pause.
Not a dramatic one.
Just a breath.
Just a moment where no one looked at me like I was the ghost of something inconvenient.
Dante didn’t speak as we walked, and I was grateful.
He let the silence stretch between us, long, thin, deliberate. Like a rope I could either climb out of this ache with... or wrap around my own throat. He gave me the choice.
It should’ve been awkward.
It wasn’t.
His presence was too steady for that. Too rooted. Too calm.
Like a tree that had survived every storm and decided he wasn’t afraid of lightning anymore.
I envied that.
We didn’t walk
