ith the occasional hum of the television or the distant clatter of Ana's mother moving around the kitchen. No, this was different

t cold, foreign. He had spent so many days here that it was prac

see the tremble in them, the barely restrained grief that threatened to break through. The man had lost the

ice softer than usual. Wyatt merely n

iet. Every now and then, he glanced toward the staircase, expecting to hear the f

er a while, eyes still fixed on the c

't need to b

ching at his sides. He had never seen Ana like this. She was always the firecrack

or open, what he saw made his chest ache like

lders shook with silent sobs, her face buried in her pillow. She looked

think. He did

und her without a word. Normally, she would have shoved him away, called h

her tethered to the earth. Her hands fisted in his shirt, a

way her body trembled against his. He wanted to say something-anything-to make

while, a shudder would go through her. When she finally pulled back, her face was

s," she whispere

otion. He ran his fingers up and down her back, a smal

st girl he had ever known-the girl who never backed down, who al

nchecked, but he didn't care. He didn't wipe them away. He just

at him, he stayed awake, watching over her as she drifted into

tains, he whispered the words he had never dared to

with Anastasia, doing everything in his power to make sure she never had to face the crushing weight of her grief alone. But she recovered and started being her o

cruel way of hitting

rema

mom passed, Beth Thompson stepped into their lives like she owned the place. She came wit

t-sweet, bubbly, blonde, and perfect. And she w

world's best parent. But the moment they weren't around? She turned into something else entirely. Col

hbrush, washing their clothes, doing their chores on top of her own.

ughing. Stoppe

weighed down by an invisible burden. Bastian asked her about it, over

finally

he demanded as they walke

" she muttered, no

t. You barely talk to me

en busy," she said fl

stop it, but he didn't regret it. He grabbed he

h. But then she wrenched her arm free. "I don't need this, Bas

tep back, s

ace. For the first time in years, she was walking away from him

ing wa

, terrib

something soon, he w

go