The Weight of Staying
he muttered, but the word faltered, landing with the weight of a lie between them.
She didn’t believe him; doubt flickered across her face, mouth pulling into a line, but she let it drop for now. The lie felt too fragile to crack open just yet.
He knew she didn’t believe him. Laura saw it in the way his shoulders curled in, a subtle flinch, as if bracing for the question she didn’t ask.
Neither of them said so. The silence thickened, a heavy blanket over the truth, both unwilling to name the thing between them.