Ch. 17: Promises

The morning came in grey and quiet, the way it always did before everything changed.

Sophia crossed the room slowly, aware of every step, of the way she was watching without seeming to. She remembered the first time, and the last, and all the ordinary days in between that had somehow mattered more.

The conversation turned, the way conversations do, from the easy things to the ones that mattered. Sophia crossed the room slowly, aware of every step, of the way she was watching without seeming to.

She remembered the first time, and the last, and all the ordinary days in between that had somehow mattered more. "You shouldn't have come," she said, and the words landed softer than they were meant to. The conversation turned, the way conversations do, from the easy things to the ones that mattered.

The past was not a place you could visit and leave unchanged. It followed you home.

The conversation turned, the way conversations do, from the easy things to the ones that mattered. She remembered the first time, and the last, and all the ordinary days in between that had somehow mattered more.

And somewhere beneath the fear, quiet and stubborn, something like hope began to grow.