Crossing the line
That laugh — low, unguarded — hit me like muscle memory.
Then he turned. Saw me.
And everything else went silent.
His smile faded, not from surprise — from recognition.
He crossed the room slowly, his gaze never leaving mine. “Ava.” His voice was low, familiar, a thousand memories wrapped in two syllables.
“Ethan.” I nodded, professional, detached — or at least trying to be. “You look… well.”
“So do you.”
We stood in that fragile space between past and present — not enemies, not strangers, just two people still caught in what once was.