LOGINThe night after the open door, I wake up to his voice."Mine."Soft. Quiet. Almost a whisper. Like a secret he's been keeping. Like a prayer he's been saying. Like a truth he's been holding onto for years. Like a confession he's been afraid to speak. Like a promise he's been desperate to make. Like a word that's been living in his heart. Like a song that's been playing in his soul. Like a dream he's been chasing in his sleep. Like a hope he's been clinging to in the dark. Like a prayer he's been offering to the universe.I'm in his bed. His arms are around me. His face is buried in my hair. His breath is warm on my neck. His heart beats steady against my back. His body is wrapped around mine like he's afraid I'll disappear. Like he's afraid I'm a ghost. Like he's afraid he'll wake up and I'll be gone. Like he's afraid he's dreaming. Like he's afraid to believe this is real. Like he's afraid to trust the happiness. Like he's afraid to let himself hope."Mine," he says again.I turn. Lo
The night after he said he hated me, I find his door open.Not wide. Just a crack. A sliver of light spilling into the dark hallway like a beacon. Like an invitation. Like a prayer. Like a second chance I didn't know I was waiting for. Like a door that was always meant to be opened. Like a sign I couldn't ignore. Like a promise I couldn't break. Like a hope I couldn't extinguish.I stop. My heart pounds. My breath catches. My hands start to shake. My feet won't move. My mind is racing. My soul is screaming. My whole body is trembling.He's inside. Sitting on the edge of the bed. His head is in his hands. His shoulders are slumped. He looks broken. He looks tired. He looks like he's been fighting a war he can't win, a battle he's been losing for years, a fight that's been draining the life out of him, a struggle that's been consuming him, a pain that's been eating him alive, a grief that's been drowning him.I push the door open. "Ethan?"He looks up. His eyes are red. His face is pale
The morning after the truth, I wake up alone.Ethan's side of the bed is cold. Empty. His pillow is untouched. The sheets are smooth, like he never even lay down. Like he spent the entire night walking, thinking, pacing, wrestling with demons I couldn't see. The room feels hollow without him. The silence is deafening. The emptiness is suffocating. The absence is unbearable.I find him in the kitchen. His back is to me. His shoulders are tense. His hands are flat against the counter like he's trying to hold himself up, like he's trying to keep from falling apart. The coffee is cold. He hasn't touched it. He hasn't moved. He hasn't blinked. He hasn't breathed."Ethan?"He doesn't turn around. He doesn't move. He doesn't speak. It's like he can't hear me. Like I'm not there. Like I'm already gone."Ethan, talk to me. Please. I need to know what's going on in your head. I need to know what you're thinking. I need to know what you're feeling. I need to know if we're okay.""About what?" Hi
The morning after his promise, I find him in the kitchen.He's staring at his coffee. His face is pale. His hands are wrapped around the mug like he's trying to hold onto something solid, something that won't slip away. The coffee has gone cold. He hasn't taken a sip. He hasn't moved an inch. He hasn't blinked."Ethan?"He doesn't answer. His eyes don't move from the dark surface of the liquid. He's somewhere else entirely. Trapped in a memory. Lost in a moment I can't see. Drowning in a past I can't reach."Ethan, what's wrong? Talk to me. You're scaring me."He looks up. His eyes are hollow. Haunted. Like he's been awake all night, wrestling with ghosts he can't shake. Like he's been fighting a battle I can't see. Like he's been drowning in questions he can't answer. Like he's been carrying a weight he can't put down."I've been thinking," he says."About what? What's been going through your head?""About everything. About the years we lost. About the lies we told. About the secrets
The flashbacks are finally fading.It's been weeks since the nightmares started. Weeks of Ethan holding me through the darkness. Weeks of his voice pulling me back from the edge. Weeks of his presence reminding me that I'm not trapped in that hospital room anymore. The memories are still there, but they've lost their power. They're echoes now, not earthquakes. They're shadows, not monsters. They're whispers, not screams. They're ghosts that no longer haunt me. They're scars that no longer bleed. They're wounds that have finally healed.I'm in the kitchen. Making coffee. My hands are steady. My breath is even. The smell of the grounds doesn't send me spiraling anymore. The sunlight feels warm, not harsh. The world feels solid beneath my feet. The fear feels distant. The past feels like the past. The future feels like something I can hold. Like something I can trust.Ethan walks in. He's smiling. A real smile. The kind that reaches his eyes. The kind that makes my heart skip. The kind t
The night after his confession, I can't sleep.Every time I close my eyes, I'm back there. The hospital. The blinding fluorescent lights that buzzed overhead like angry insects, flickering, humming, making everything feel unreal. The smell of antiseptic and fear and something else—something that smelled like loss, like death, like the end of everything. The sound of the doctor's voice, flat and clinical, delivering the news that shattered my world into a million pieces I've been trying to piece back together ever since. The feeling of my heart breaking in my chest, cracking open, bleeding out."Your baby didn't survive. I'm so sorry. There was nothing we could do. The trauma was too severe. His injuries were too extensive."I wake up gasping. Sweating. My heart pounding so hard I can hear it in my ears. The sheets are twisted around my legs like they're trying to trap me, like they're trying to pull me back into that nightmare. The room is dark, but the darkness doesn't feel safe—it f
The black SUV has been behind us for forty-seven miles.Same plates. Tinted windows. Always three car lengths back."You're sure it's Vanessa?" I ask.Mason's knuckles are white on the steering wheel. "I recognize the driver. He works for her father.""Her real father? The truck driver?""Her real
Morning light cuts through the bedroom windows like a blade.I'm alone in his bed.The sheets smell like him. Cedar. Ice. Something darker underneath.My dress hangs on the closet door. Red. Wrinkled. Evidence."Ethan?"No answer.The bathroom is empty. The shower is cold. His toothbrush is gone.I
His mouth is on my neck.Teeth. Tongue. Three years of hunger."I've dreamed about this," he says against my skin."How many times?""Every night.""Liar.""Count the nightmares, Thompson. That's how many."His hands slide under my dress. Find bare skin. No underwear. Just like Mason said."You pla
Red.I stare at the dress hanging from my hotel closet.It's the same one from three years ago. The one he bought me. The one he tore off with his teeth."I can't wear this."My reflection doesn't answer.She just looks scared.I pull out my phone. Text Mason."This is insane.""Probably," he write







