The Cross Family
He looked exhausted, eyes red, jaw tense like he’d been chewed up by guilt.
Eva softened her voice. “Bad night?”
He froze, startled she’d spoken like a person.
“Shut up,” he muttered.
Eva didn’t push. She held up her water bottle. “Thank you.”
He hesitated, then said, grudging, “Don’t thank me. Doesn’t change what this is.”
“It might,” Eva said quietly.
He stiffened. “What?”
Eva kept her eyes down, tone mild. “People tell themselves stories. If your story is ‘I’m a monster,’ you become one. If your story is ‘I’m doing what I have to,’ you might still… be able to live with yourself later.”