Masuk~ Cole ~ It starts with sound. Not clear. Just…noise. Like something trying to reach me from underwater. Muffled. Distant. Persistent. I don’t know how long it’s been there. Or how long I’ve been here. Time doesn’t feel like time. It feels like nothing. Like everything exists in one long stretch of… blank. But the sound— It keeps coming back. A rhythm. Slow. Steady. Annoying. I try to focus on it. That’s when I realise— I’m thinking. The realisation is slow. Heavy. Like dragging something through thick water. But it’s there. A thought. Then another. Incomplete. But mine. Something shifts. Not outside. Inside. Like something that was switched off is trying to turn back on, piece by piece. It doesn’t feel right. Like parts of me are waking up at different speeds. I try to move. Nothing happens. No response. No control. Just… effort going nowhere. That should bother me. It doesn’t. Not fully. Everyt
~ Mara ~ Rhea doesn’t knock. She walks in like she belongs here. Like she always has. Like she always will. The door clicks softly behind her, and for a second, I don’t turn. I already know it’s her. There’s a certain kind of presence you recognise without needing to look. Steady. Grounded. Real. “You look terrible,” she says. No softness. No sugarcoating the honest truth. I let out a quiet breath, eyes still on Cole. “Good morning to you too.” Her footsteps come closer, slow and measured, until she’s standing just beside me. I feel her looking at him. Taking it in. Not reacting the way most people do. Not flinching. Not pitying. Just… seeing. “That’s him?” she asks quietly. I nod once. “That’s him,” I repeated dry There’s a pause. A long one. Then— “Yeah,” she murmurs. “That makes sense he’s always getting into trouble .” I almost smile. Almost. Because that’s exactly the kind of thing she would say. Not emotional.
~Jax ~ The first problem shows up as numbers. Not bullets. Not threats. Just numbers sitting on a screen, looking harmless until you actually understand what they mean. I stare at them longer than I should. Revenue down. Late payments stacking. Two shipments delayed with no clear explanation. One missing entirely. Missing doesn’t happen. Delayed, maybe. Intercepted by the cops, sometimes. But missing? That’s a message. I lean back in the chair, dragging a hand slowly over my face. “Say it,” I mutter to myself. “Go on. Say it.” Because I already know what it means. The smugglers, our rivals and the men they smell weakness. Cole’s absence isn’t public. Not officially. But people like us don’t need announcements. They read patterns. Silence where there used to be control. Delays where there used to be precision. They notice. They always notice. A knock hits the door. Short. Sharp. “Yeah.” Finn steps in, closing it behind him
~ Mara ~ It happens in the bathroom. Not in front of him. Not in front of anyone. Of course it doesn’t. Because I’ve gotten really good at holding it together when someone is watching. It’s when no one is there— That’s when things slip. I’m standing over the sink, staring at my reflection like I don’t fully recognise the person looking back at me. My hair is pulled back, but not neatly. There are dark circles under my eyes that no amount of water or pretending fixes. My lips are dry. My face… tired. Not just sleepy. Drained. Like something inside me has been running too long without stopping. I grip the edge of the sink, leaning forward slightly. “Pull it together,” I mutter under my breath. Because I have to. There’s no version of this where I fall apart and things just… pause. Life doesn’t do that. It keeps moving. Lily still wakes up every morning. Still needs breakfast. Still asks questions I don’t always have the energy to answer.
~ Mara ~ Apparently, I abandon my child. That’s what it sounds like when people don’t know the full picture. That’s what it looks like from the outside. A woman sitting beside a hospital bed for hours, days… losing track of time while her daughter isn’t physically right in front of her. I heard it this morning. Not directly. Not brave enough for that. Two nurses talking just outside the door, voices low but not low enough. “She’s been here every day.” “What about her kid?” A pause. A shrug I couldn’t see but felt anyway. “Some people just… shut down.” I didn’t move. Didn’t react. Just sat here like I didn’t hear a single word. Because explaining myself would take too much energy. And I don’t have any left to spare. Lily is not abandoned. She’s with Rhea. Picked up from the house every day. Fed. Summer break Homework done. Hair brushed, even if Rhea complains about how much Lily asks about Cole and what's to come with me. I call every night
~ Mara ~ I almost miss it. That’s the worst part. After everything… I almost don’t see it. Jax informed me that he and the doctors witnessed Cole's hand twitch so I decided to stay by his side till I see it for myself. I’m sitting beside him, head leaning back against the chair, exhaustion pulling at every part of me. I don’t even remember closing my eyes, just that for a second, the weight of everything got too heavy to hold up. Then— Something shifts. My eyes open slowly, disoriented for half a second before reality crashes back in. Hospital. Cole. Everything. I turn my head toward him automatically. And freeze. His hand. My breath catches. It’s resting where I left it, fingers slightly curled against the sheet. Except— They move. Just barely. A twitch. So small it could be nothing. So small I almost convince myself it is nothing. But then it happens again. Clearer this time. My heart slams against my ribs so hard it actually hurts
Cole After I leave her place I walked into the clubhouse already pissed off. Boots hit concrete hard, knuckles still sore, jaw tight like I was holding back a growl. The place smelled like oil, sweat, and old smoke, same as always, but tonight it felt louder. Eyes lifted. Conversations dip
Mara I slammed the bathroom door hard enough to rattle the mirror, palms braced on the sink, breath coming fast like I’d just run up three flights of stairs instead of standing ten feet away from a biker who could ruin my fucking life with a look. Goddamn it. My reflection stared back at me
Mara I slammed the bathroom door harder than I meant to and gripped the sink like it had personally offended me. My reflection looked wrecked. Not crying wrecked. Worse. Awake. Lit up in places that had been dormant for too long. My pulse was still kicking hard in my throat, my skin buzzing
Mara I knew i felt out of place when i walked in. the room and the noise, made me feel out of place. It pressed in closer, heavier, like I’d stepped into a space that already knew me. Conversations didn’t stop, but they dipped. Glances slid my way and didn’t slide back fast enough. I felt i







