Good.
“Shouldn’t you be,” he counters, “not carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders by yourself?”
I cross my arms.
“You’re one to talk.”
“Never said I wasn’t a hypocrite.”
That almost makes me smile.
Almost.
The room feels smaller now.
Or maybe it’s just the way he’s looking at me.
Like there’s nothing else in the world right now but this.
But us.
“You scared me back there,” I say quietly.
There.
I said it.
His expression shifts.
Softens.
Just enough.
“Yeah,” he admits. “You scared me too.”
My breath catches slightly.
Not because of the words.
Because of how easily he said them.
No armor.
No deflection.
Just truth.
The rain taps softly against the window.
Time slows.
Everything narrows.
“You can’t keep doing that,” I whisper. “Throwing yourself into things like you’re invincible.”
“I’m not,” he says.
I step closer.
