I turn in his arms so I can see his face. Watch disappointment flicker across his features, quickly masked but not quickly enough.
Not entitlement. Just the natural sadness of wanting more time together after everything we just shared, everything we just chose.
I kiss him quickly, trying to reassure. "I'll be back. I promise. I'll stop at Jess's on the way, get my things, and then I'm coming home. Okay?"
He looks at me for a long moment, those dark eyes searching mine for truth, for certainty, for proof that I'm not using this as an excuse to flee.
Then he nods reluctantly. "Okay."
I get dressed quickly, pulling the clothes that are scattered across the living room floor.
Leave before I can second-guess this decision. Before the warmth of the bed and the pull of their presence can override Sarah's need.
But I'm not fleeing. Not running away from what we built tonight.
Just responding to life. To responsibility. To the people who still need me outside of this apartment and these men.
Because love can feel safe now, finally, after all the truth and tears.
But life doesn't pause for that. Life keeps moving forward, demanding attention, pulling me back into the world beyond these walls.
And this time, I'm leaving knowing I have somewhere to return to.
Someone to return to.
That makes all the difference.
39
ERION
"Are you sure she said she was coming back? She wasn't upset or anything?" My voice edged with anxiety I can't quite control.
It's been hours since Lily left. Hours that have stretched out interminably, each minute feeling like ten. Hours with no word, no text, no call. Nothing but silence that grows louder and more ominous with each passing moment.
Artan looks at me from where he's sitting on the couch, his posture deceptively relaxed but tension visible in the set of his shoulders. "She didn't seem upset at all. Just in a hurry. She said she'd be back. That she was getting her things from Jess's apartment and then coming home."
It's late afternoon now, sliding into early evening. Almost night. The light outside the floor-to-ceiling windows has that golden quality that comes before darkness, the sun dying slowly and painting everything amber and shadow.
We're all in Luan's apartment. Waiting. The three of us scattered across the living room like pieces on a board, unable to settle, unable to focus on anything except the absence that's grown too large to ignore.
I can't sit still. Haven't been able to for the past hour. Keep pacing back and forth across the living room, my footsteps heavy on the hardwood floor, wearing a path between the windows and the kitchen.
"I'm calling her," I announce, pulling out my phone with movements that feel too jerky, too urgent.
"Don't crowd her,vëlla," Artan says, but I can see the worry in his dark eyes too. The way his gaze keeps drifting to his own phone. The way his injured hands keep flexing like he's fighting the urge to reach for it himself.
I'm about to press the call button, my thumb hovering over Lily's name in my contacts, when Luan's phone pings.
The sound cuts through the tense quiet like a gunshot.
Luan picks it up immediately. Looks at the screen. His entire face transforms, a smile breaking across his features like sunrise.
"It's Lily," he says, relief evident in his voice.
We all exhale simultaneously. The tension in the room releasing like a held breath finally let go.
Finally. She's okay. Everything is fine.
