“Yeah,” I say. “And I’m not ashamed of it.”
“No one’s asking you to be,” Eli says.
Dex points at me. “But you don’t get to disappear either.”
“I’m not disappearing.”
“You are,” he says. “You’re just doing it quietly.”
That one lands.
“Cap,” Gabriel says, voice low. “You don’t get to let silence decide this for you.”
“Why not?” I ask.
Gabriel answers instead, voice steady. “Because when silence makes the call for you, it never picks the one that lets you keep your spine.”
I swallow.
Because he’s right.
Avoiding her felt like control.
Like I was choosing when the damage stopped.
But it isn’t.
It’s surrender.
It’s letting the story end without me ever saying my part.
“I’m still pissed off,” I say.
“Good,” Dex replies immediately. “You should be. It means you give a shit.”
I huff out a breath despite myself.
“There it is,” Dex says. “That’s the face. You’re still in this.”
“I don’t know,” I say.
Gabriel claps a hand on my shoulder. “You don’t need to.”
Eli adds, “You just can’t hide.”
I nod slowly.
They’re not telling me what to do.
They’re just refusing to let me disappear behind the captain badge and a quiet smile.
My phone buzzes on the bench.
I don’t check it.
Not yet.
Tomorrow night, the arena will be loud.
