pte

Isabella tried to convince hersel

There was no reason for his face to linger in her thoughts, no reason for his voi

ght, sleep refus

rs dimmed and the city lights flickering beyond her window, she found

ramatic. It didn

elt

rt

inside her had settl

t unsettled

r father's social circle. They had recited compliments like rehearsed poetry and spo

hadn't di

quiet

ed her more than

days p

of polite smiles and rehearsed conversations about investments and ap

ithout meaning to. Listening for a v

day, she retur

ut deep down she knew she was searching for some

m almost i

, revealing forearms marked with small scars - quiet signatures of a life built through effort rather th

ething ground

xed t

in her mind longer

er presence, Da

yes met

ther of them s

spread acro

over me this time

n she intended. "I supp

nds on a cloth. "I was

her off guard. There was no perf

the t

e often," s

t entire

pected it w

abella found reasons to visit the park in the afternoons, and Daniel always seemed to have work

out ordinary t

own and how he had started working young to support her. He didn't complain

n, tightening a loose bolt, "I feel like

ow?" Isab

sidering his a

ike I'm waiting for someone important

d in a way she c

hat feeling," s

she

had always felt as though something essential was missing - as th

ed, their conver

mattered. Isabella noticed his steadiness - the way he never tried to impre

s though she wer

a fortune. Not a

t h

something be

tarted t

standing somewhere unfamiliar. The sound of ra

y became

k - not evening-dark, but the kind of darkness that presses against your lun

m him stoo

wasn't

with something that

rr

t just

ali

to move t

s though the ground beneat

" she w

n grew

hed out

his fingers

rld fr

Metal twisting. Glass shattering. A flash of

himself

hysic

ing vital was being

stance, Isabe

lently against his ribs. His sheets tangled around hi

ways ended t

h l

separ

tainty that he had not

t unders

otions in the dream felt more real than his waking li

to drea

lla felt somethi

stronger her fear became - not fe

de no

wn him for days.

him laughing softly beneath the trees,

time wer

e universe w

comfortable silence settled between them. The sun dipped lower, casting

something?" Dan

no

u've known someone before

eath c

e answere

d, staring

you. They don't make sense. But in them... I los

passed th

new. It feels like I'm remembering something I forgot. And

k her deeper th

barely above a whisper, "some connec

mall, uncer

n't dismis

e deep inside hi

stead, their connection deepened in quieter ways - through lingering eye contact, share

oud. It was

as s

felt more dangerou

them closer, something unseen w

es arriv

are only