( Ava’s POV)
Morning came thin and gray, bleeding slowly through the trees like the world was unsure it wanted to wake up at all.
I hadn’t slept. Not really. Every time my eyes closed, I saw headlights cutting through fog or heard the snap of branches that weren’t there. When dawn finally pressed its way into the ravine, it felt less like relief and more like exposure.
Brian stirred beside me, already alert. He’d positioned himself half in front of me without realizing it, body angled like a shield. The stream rushed past our knees, cold enough to burn, but neither of us moved until the forest above us stayed quiet for a full, aching minute.
“Still clear,” he murmured.
"For now,” I said.
He glanced at me, searching my face. “You okay?”
The honest answer lodged somewhere behind my ri
