The knock on Emma's door was soft.Not Marcus. She knew his knock, three times, deliberate, always waiting for an answer before he even considered turning the handle.This was two knocks. Hesitant. Like the person on the other side hadn't fully committed to the decision yet.Emma opened the door.Lily stood in the hallway in her old college hoodie and bare feet, hair pulled back, face stripped of everything, makeup, performance, the careful neutrality she'd been wearing all morning like a second skin.She looked exhausted. She looked like Emma's best friend."Walk with me," Lily said.They went to the beach.Not the main stretch where the vacation crowds gathered with their umbrellas, coolers and noise. The narrow path around the left side of the property led to the quieter cove, the one they'd found on their second day and kept to themselves. Lily walked slightly ahead, not fast, just moving with purpose, and Emma followed without asking where they were going or why.They didn't spea
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