For now.
I cross to the window.I can't help myself.I need to check one more time.
The street's mostly empty now, dark except for the streetlights casting orange pools on the pavement.A car is parked down the block.Could be anyone.
And near the corner?—
A shadow.Or a person.Hard to tell in the darkness.
My chest tightens.
Is someone there?Watching?Or am I imagining it?
The shadow shifts.The shape of a bike, maybe.Or nothing at all.Just my mind playing tricks.
But somehow—impossibly—seeing it there makes me feel calmer.
Which makes no sense.If someone's watching me, I should be terrified.
But part of me wonders.Hopes.
Could it be Tank?
Would he really do that?Sit outside in the cold Dublin night just to make sure I'm safe, without asking for anything in return, without demanding explanations or forcing his way into my mess?
Sometimes asking for help is the strongest thing you can do.
Mam's words circle back.
What if I told him?What if I explained about Declan, about the text, about the fear that's been living under my skin for three years?
What if he could help?
But then I think about Warren.About the life we've built here with Mam.About the fragile peace that one text has already shattered.
If I bring Tank into this—if I let him fight this battle with me—what happens when Declan escalates?Because he will escalate.He always does.
What happens if Tank gets hurt?What happens if Warren gets caught in the crossfire?
I can't risk it.
Can I?
The shadow moves again.Definitely a person.Definitely watching.
My heart hammers against my ribs—fear and something else tangled together.Something I don't want to examine too closely.
Because if that is Tank down there, if he is protecting me without being asked, that means he cares.
Really cares.
And I don't know if I'm strong enough to let him.
I don't know if I'm brave enough to tell him the truth and let him decide if I'm worth the danger.
I close the curtain, step back from the window, and climb into bed fully clothed because I'm too exhausted to change.
And as I lie there in the dark, one question circles endlessly.
