And she didn’t fix it. Didn’t tell me it would be okay. Didn’t promise me my dad isn’t really an echo.
She just told me to try harder.
And maybe that’s what I need to hear.
Maybe Dahlia needs me to try harder too.
I close my eyes. Try to quiet my mind. Try to listen the way Alex does. Try to feel whatever it is I’m supposed to feel.
Nothing.
Just my own heartbeat. My own breathing. My own fear so loud it drowns out everything else.
I can’t do it. Can’t hear her. Can’t feel her.
She’s trying to tell me something.
And I’m too scared to let her in.
“Dylan?” Alex’s voice cuts through the silence. Quiet. Not angry anymore. Just tired.
“Yeah?”
“You’re doing that thing where you spiral very loudly in your head.”
“How do you even know that?”
“I can hear you not breathing. It’s very aggressive.”
Despite everything, I huff a laugh. “Sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry. Just stop spiraling.” She shifts, still facing away. “We’ll figure it out.”
“Together?”
“Obviously together. You think I’m letting you ghost-hunt alone? You’d end up joining her.”
“That’s not comforting.”
“Wasn’t meant to be.” But there’s warmth in her voice now. That Alex-warmth that means we’re okay. “Now actually sleep before Dahlia gets annoyed with both of us.”
“You think she’s annoyed?”
“Dylan, you’re wearing her ring and ignoring her messages. Of course she’s annoyed.”
“Ghosts don’t get annoyed.”
“This one clearly does.” Alex pulls the blanket higher. “Now sleep. We have a murder to solve and a ghost to listen to and I need at least four more hours before I’m functional enough to deal with any of it.”
“Dandelions?” I whisper.
She’s quiet for a moment. Then, “Dandelions.”
The space between us feels smaller now. Still there. But crossable.
I still wasn’t truthful.
Because if ghosts are real, then that means my dad never showed up to say goodbye tome.
