The coldness of his words shocks me.
I sit there, cross-legged next to him for some time, the weight of his words – or rather, his warning – giving me pause and much to contemplate. I feel my heart freeze and shatter, feeling so sad and rejected that it renders me unable to move.
I don't know how long I sit there for, waiting for the ice to leave my veins, waiting for the sting of his words to dissolve. Eventually, it does. And when the time comes, I finally settle next to him, keeping a wide berth between our bodies, hugging my side of his bed.
I’m quickly asleep, as far away from Harlan as I can possibly be in the confines of his bed, black sheets smooth and comforting against my skin. I sleep well considering, and could have sworn, at some point in the night, that I still wake up to
