Just an ordinary night. Four people in a booth.
Nobody in pain.
• • •
He leans closer across the table.
“I’m really glad you invited me,” Taylor says quietly.
Something loosens in my chest.
Oh.
My gaydar is officially useless.
And my parents’ gaydar really works.
• • •
Walking to the theater, I think: maybe I can do this.
Maybe this is what it looks like — Cassian with someone, me with someone, all of us just… fine.
Normal.
Maybe I’ve been making it bigger than it is.
The night is soft. Taylor walks close enough that our arms brush, and I let it happen, and I think — yeah.
Maybe I can handle this.
• • •
The movie starts.
I stare at the screen without seeing any of it.
Because in the dark, something shifts.
Two rows ahead, Cassian and Abby have gone quiet in the way that isn’t nothing.
His arm moves around her. Slow. Easy. Like it belongs there.
She tips her head onto his shoulder.
He lets her.
He tips his head down toward hers.
And all at once the burger place feels like it was a hundred years ago.
My jaw tightens.
Something cold moves through me.
I look away before he can see me looking.
• • •
