A realization settled over me. Emily needed this. She needed her girls, needed this circle of women who’d known her since forever and loved her without condition.
What she didn’t need, at least not tonight, was me taking up space.
I pressed a kiss to her hair and spoke low, just for her. “Hey. I’m gonna head out, give you some time with your friends.”
She looked up at me, her eyes red-rimmed but clearer than they’d been all night. “You don’t have to go.”
“I know.” I brushed the hair back from her forehead. “But I think you need this. Just you and them. Yeah?”
She held my gaze for a few beats, then nodded slowly. “Yeah. Okay.”
“Walk me out?”
The night air was cool against my skin as we made our way to my truck. Emily had her arms wrapped around herself, her bare feet silent on the pavement. I opened the driver’s side door but didn’t get in, just turned to face her.
“I… I think I’m gonna stay here for a few days. Just until I know what the fallout is going to be.”
“I think that is exactly what you should do. Take all the time you need.”
She looked so small standing there. Beautiful. Brave. Mine, if only she’d let me keep her. “Can I text you?” Sure, I sounded a little desperate, but I needed that lifeline. “Just to check in. Make sure you’re okay.”
Her lips curved, just slightly. “Yeah. I’d like that.”
I reached for her, cupping her face in my hands, and kissed her. Soft. Slow. A promise more than a demand. When I pulled back, I rested my forehead against hers.
“I love you, Emily.”
She didn’t flinch this time. Didn’t run. Her hands came up to wrap around my wrists, holding me there, anchoring herself to me.
It wasn’t I love you too. But it was something. And for now, it was enough.
I kissed her forehead, then made myself let go. Made myself climb into the truck and start the engine.
She stepped back, giving me room to reverse out of the driveway. In the rearview mirror, I could see her standing there, arms wrapped around herself, watching me go.
The image stayed with me the whole drive home. Emily in the darkness, finally cracked open, finally letting people see the broken parts she’d been hiding for so long.
She had a long road ahead. Healing wasn’t linear, and the wounds her mother had inflicted ran deep.
But she wasn’t walking that road alone anymore. I’d make sure of it.
EMILY
Istood in the driveway until Cam’s taillights disappeared around the corner. My fingers drifted to my lips, still warm from his kiss.
I love you, Emily.
I wanted to believe it. God, I wanted to. But wanting something didn’t make it true.
This was my default setting. Doubt first, trust never. I had spent years being convinced that love was conditional and I didn’t meet the requirements. But Cam hadn’t just spoken the words. He had looked at me like I was the sun, even when I felt like a black hole. For the first time, the doubt wasn’t protecting me. It was just in the way.
My legs felt like they were made of sand as I turned back toward the house. Every step took effort, my body heavy in a way that went deeper than muscle and bone. But underneath the exhaustion, there was something else. An absence.
It was the strange, hollow sensation of dropping a shield I hadn’t realized I was gripping so tightly. My arms were empty. The manic need to smile, to perform, to be the bright spot in the room? It was gone. Silence was okay. Sadness was allowed. It was weird. Not bad weird. Just... new.
I’d think about what that meant tomorrow. Tonight, I just needed to be with the girls.
Inside, the living room had transformed. Mattresses covered the floor, blankets and pillows piled everywhere. The girls moved around the space, arranging things, working together with the kind of efficiency that came from years of practice. Poppy fluffed pillows. Hannah dragged another mattress through from somewhere down the hall.
