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00:00I didn't even like dogs. That's the first lie I told him.
00:03The truth is, I'd been lonely for so long that the sight of that trembling,
00:07mud-streaked German Shepherd sitting outside the convenience store felt like an invitation I couldn't refuse.
00:13He looked like I did most days. Hungry, out of place, pretending not to need anyone.
00:19I remember kneeling in front of him, whispering,
00:22Hey, it's okay. I won't hurt you.
00:26He pressed his nose against my palm, cautious but curious.
00:29I could feel the tremor in him. Or maybe it was in me.
00:34I'd been running, though not in the way people imagine when they hear that word.
00:38Running, for me, meant hiding in plain sight, working double shifts under fake names,
00:43avoiding mirrors because I couldn't stand the reminder of the woman I used to be.
00:48That night, I wrapped the dog in my coat and walked home through the half-lit streets of Southport.
00:54No one looked twice. No one ever does.
00:57By the time I reached my building, I'd already named him Chance.
01:02Because that's what I thought he was.
01:04A small, accidental grace thrown into my wreckage.
01:08The next morning, everything began to unravel.
01:12I woke up to pounding on my door.
01:14Not the kind that says maintenance or neighbor.
01:16The kind that knows exactly who you are and what you owe.
01:19Open up, a voice demanded.
01:23Low, calm, practiced.
01:26Chance growled.
01:27A deep, warning sound I'd never heard from him before.
01:30My stomach twisted.
01:32I told myself it was probably someone looking for a tenant who'd skipped rent.
01:36I even walked toward the door like I believed it.
01:38Then he spoke again.
01:40Miss Hale.
01:42That name, my real name, froze me mid-step.
01:45I hadn't heard it spoken in two years.
01:47I cracked the door an inch.
01:49He was standing there.
01:51Tall, black shirt unbuttoned at the throat.
01:53Sleeves rolled.
01:55An expression too composed to be ordinary.
01:57There was no mistaking what he was.
02:00You could tell by the way the air seemed to move around him.
02:02Like he'd already decided who lived and who didn't.
02:05Where is he?
02:06He asked.
02:07Who?
02:08My voice broke on that single word.
02:11He looked past me.
02:12Eyes flicking to the shadow behind my legs.
02:15My dog.
02:16Chance barked once, sharp and defensive.
02:18I should have lied.
02:20Should have said I'd found him yesterday.
02:22That I didn't know whose he was.
02:24But fear makes you honest in the worst ways.
02:26He was alone, I said quietly.
02:29Hungry.
02:29No tag.
02:30He doesn't need one.
02:32Something in his tone made my pulse stutter.
02:34He stepped forward and instinct made me step back.
02:37The door widened between us like a surrender.
02:40He crouched.
02:41Eyes level with the dogs.
02:42Hey, boy.
02:44Chance whimpered once.
02:46Then, like betrayal in motion, walked straight to him.
02:51I don't know what hurt more.
02:53The ease with which the dog trusted him.
02:55Or the calm satisfaction in his eyes when he looked up at me again.
02:59See?
03:00He murmured.
03:01He knows where he belongs.
03:03Then take him, I said, trying to sound indifferent.
03:07I just found him.
03:09He didn't move.
03:10You're not from here.
03:11I didn't realize that was a crime.
03:14It's not.
03:15He stood.
03:16But losing things that belong to me is.
03:19That's when it clicked.
03:21The name I'd heard whispered around my old neighborhood.
03:24The man who owned half the city's silence.
03:27Damien Corrine.
03:29The one people swore didn't exist, because no one who met him ever confirmed it twice.
03:34I felt my throat close.
03:36Look, if he's yours, I'm sorry.
03:38I didn't mean he cut me off.
03:40You did what you do best, Miss Hale.
03:42You took something that wasn't yours.
03:45The words hit harder than they should have.
03:47Because he was right.
03:48He knew.
03:49Somehow this stranger knew the thing I'd buried.
03:52Why I'd left my old life.
03:54Why I couldn't go back.
03:56I don't know what you think.
03:58I think you owe me.
04:00He said softly.
04:02And I don't like debts unpaid.
04:04His gaze lingered.
04:05Unreadable.
04:06Then he called the dog to heel and turned toward the hallway.
04:09But at the doorway, he stopped.
04:12You live alone?
04:13Yes.
04:14Not anymore.
04:15He said it like a fact.
04:17Not a threat.
04:18Then he walked away.
04:20The sound of his footsteps disappearing down the stairs.
04:24Leaving the echo of that single promise behind.
04:26Not anymore.
04:29I spent the rest of the day pretending I didn't hear it.
04:32Pretending the air in my apartment didn't still taste like him.
04:35But when I opened the fridge later, there was a folded note tucked inside the handle of the milk carton.
04:41No signature.
04:42Just a line in sharp handwriting.
04:44Feed him properly.
04:45He'll be back for both of you.
04:46I dropped it.
04:47Chance.
04:48Yes.
04:49He'd come back somehow, like the note promised.
04:52Watched me with those knowing eyes dogs have.
04:54I whispered.
04:57What did I just get us into?
05:00That night, I couldn't sleep.
05:01Every creak sounded like his return.
05:03Every shadow moved wrong.
05:05When I finally drifted off, I dreamed of a hand brushing my hair from my face.
05:10And a voice saying,
05:11You shouldn't have opened the door.
05:14The next evening, I found him sitting on the steps outside my building.
05:19Same shirt.
05:20Sleeves rolled higher.
05:21Cigarette burning between his fingers.
05:22The dog was beside him, tail-thumping lazily.
05:26I stopped short.
05:28You said he was yours.
05:29Why bring him back?
05:31He exhaled smoke, eyes on me.
05:33He wanted to see you.
05:35That's not funny.
05:37I wasn't joking.
05:38There was a quiet in him that unnerved me.
05:41Too controlled.
05:42Too steady.
05:43Like he'd been born in chaos and learned to tame it.
05:46He stood.
05:47Handed me the leash.
05:48Our fingers brushed.
05:50Static.
05:50He likes you, he said.
05:52That's rare.
05:54Maybe he just likes food and a bed.
05:57Or maybe, he murmured, stepping closer.
06:01He recognizes something.
06:03Something like what?
06:05Fear.
06:06The word sliced the air.
06:07I wanted to walk away.
06:09I didn't.
06:10I wanted to tell him he was wrong.
06:12That I wasn't afraid of men like him anymore.
06:14But I couldn't even convince myself.
06:16Instead, I said,
06:18I don't want trouble.
06:19You already have it.
06:21He moved past me into the building like he'd been there a hundred times.
06:25The dog followed him.
06:27I followed both.
06:28I don't know why.
06:31Inside, he glanced around my tiny apartment.
06:33The cracked tiles.
06:35The mismatched furniture.
06:36The space that screamed temporary.
06:39This where you've been hiding?
06:41I'm not hiding, he smiled.
06:43You just haven't been found yet.
06:45That's when my pulse started racing.
06:48Not from fear, but from something worse.
06:51Recognition.
06:52Because the more I looked at him,
06:54the more I remembered the world I'd run from.
06:57Late nights.
06:58Whispered deals.
07:00The sound of danger disguised as charm.
07:02And yet I couldn't stop staring.
07:05He caught my gaze.
07:06Tilted his head slightly.
07:08What?
07:10Nothing.
07:11You were looking at me like you remembered something.
07:15Maybe I was trying to forget.
07:17He laughed.
07:18Low.
07:19Unexpected.
07:20You're brave when you're cornered.
07:23I'm not cornered.
07:25You will be.
07:26He reached out then,
07:28brushing a strand of hair behind my ear
07:29like it was the most natural thing in the world.
07:31The touch was electric.
07:34But it carried warning more than warmth.
07:37I'll send someone tomorrow, he said.
07:40He'll bring food for him.
07:41And for you.
07:43I don't need your charity.
07:45He stepped closer, eyes sharp.
07:47You think this is charity?
07:49Then what is it?
07:50Claim, he said simply.
07:52You found what's mine.
07:53That makes you mine too, my breath caught.
07:56You can't just...
07:57I just did.
07:58He turned toward the door,
07:59his hand on the frame.
08:01Don't run again.
08:02I hate chasing.
08:03Then he was gone.
08:05The silence that followed felt alive.
08:08Chance curled beside me,
08:09oblivious.
08:10I sat on the floor,
08:12shaking,
08:13trying to convince myself
08:14I'd imagined the entire thing.
08:16But deep down,
08:17I already knew the truth.
08:20I'd opened my door to a man
08:21who didn't just own the city.
08:23He owned whatever piece of me
08:25still believed I could stay invisible.
08:27And as I pressed my forehead
08:29against the cool tile,
08:30I whispered the last lie
08:32I'd ever believe.
08:33He won't come back.
08:36But he did.
08:37And when he did,
08:38I didn't want him to leave.
08:44He came back three days later.
08:46No knock this time.
08:47Just the sound of a key
08:48turning in my lock
08:49like it belonged there.
08:51Chance barked once,
08:52then quieted,
08:53tail thumping the floor.
08:54I was sitting at the small kitchen table,
08:57pretending to read
08:58a classifieds page I didn't need.
09:00I didn't move.
09:01He walked in like sunlight
09:02cutting through dust,
09:04black shirt open at the collar again,
09:06sleeves rolled,
09:07gun at his hip
09:08like it was part of his body.
09:10I hated how steady
09:11his presence felt.
09:13I told you not to lock the door,
09:15he said.
09:16You didn't give me a reason
09:17to keep it open.
09:19His eyes swept the room.
09:21You didn't eat the food I sent.
09:22I didn't ask for it.
09:25He stepped closer,
09:26leaned against the counter,
09:27crossed his arms.
09:29You really think pride
09:30keeps you safe?
09:32I think men like you
09:33don't do things
09:33without a price.
09:35He smiled.
09:36It wasn't kind.
09:37Then pay attention, sweetheart.
09:39You already started paying
09:40the moment you picked up my dog.
09:42I pushed the chair back,
09:43the sound harsh against the tile.
09:45I don't want to be part
09:46of whatever this is.
09:48You already are.
09:49He said it softly,
09:52almost gently,
09:53but it landed like a lock
09:54clicking shut.
09:55I should have screamed.
09:57Should have told him
09:58to get out.
09:59Instead,
10:00I just stared at him,
10:01at the line of his throat
10:02where his shirt opened,
10:04at the pulse steady
10:05under his skin.
10:06He wasn't supposed
10:07to look like that.
10:08Danger wasn't supposed
10:09to have a face
10:10you could fall for.
10:12He must have seen
10:13the hesitation,
10:14because his expression
10:15shifted.
10:15You're not scared enough,
10:18he said quietly.
10:20I'm not stupid enough
10:21to show it.
10:23That made him laugh.
10:24You remind me of someone.
10:26Should I be flattered?
10:27No.
10:28She's dead.
10:30Silence.
10:31He lit a cigarette,
10:32eyes fixed on me
10:33through the smoke.
10:34You're hiding from something,
10:36someone.
10:37It's written all over you.
10:38I don't care who,
10:39but whoever they are,
10:40they'll find you eventually,
10:42unless I decide otherwise.
10:44Why would you decide
10:45anything about me?
10:46Because I can.
10:47I swallowed hard.
10:49You can't just...
10:50I can do a lot of things
10:51you wouldn't believe,
10:52he said, voice low.
10:54And you're going to stay here,
10:55with him.
10:56Until I say otherwise,
10:58I stared.
10:59Stay?
10:59Here?
11:00He nodded toward the window.
11:02You think the people
11:02looking for you
11:03don't already know your name?
11:05I made sure they think
11:06you're under my protection.
11:07If you walk out now,
11:08I can't promise
11:09what happens next.
11:11Protection,
11:11I repeated.
11:12That's what you call this?
11:14He shrugged.
11:15You call it
11:16whatever helps you sleep.
11:18He left then,
11:19but the air stayed heavy.
11:20I didn't know
11:21if I was safer or trapped.
11:23Maybe both.
11:24That night,
11:24I couldn't stop
11:25hearing his voice.
11:26That calm control,
11:28the way every word
11:28sounded like it could
11:29either save or end you.
11:31The next morning,
11:33he was back.
11:34No warning again.
11:36This time with a duffel bag.
11:38He dropped it
11:39near the couch.
11:40Clothes.
11:41Yours.
11:41Yours.
11:41I frowned.
11:42How?
11:43Size isn't hard to guess,
11:44he said.
11:45And stop asking questions
11:46you don't want the answers to.
11:48He looked around
11:49my apartment again.
11:51You need better locks.
11:53Better walls.
11:54This place is glass.
11:55You don't even see the cracks
11:56until you're bleeding from them.
11:58I leaned on the counter.
12:00Then why are you still
12:01standing in it?
12:02That earned me
12:03another quiet laugh.
12:05Because glass can still
12:06reflect what's real.
12:07I didn't know what that
12:09meant until later.
12:11He started showing up
12:11daily after that.
12:14Sometimes silent.
12:15Sitting in the corner
12:16while Chance lay at his feet.
12:18Sometimes talking in short bursts
12:20about the city,
12:22his business.
12:23Fragments of a life
12:24that sounded more myth
12:25than man.
12:27One evening,
12:28I caught him watching me
12:28while I fed the dog.
12:30The look wasn't lust.
12:32It was curiosity.
12:33Like he couldn't decide
12:34what kind of creature I was.
12:36What?
12:37I asked.
12:38He tilted his head.
12:39You flinch every time
12:40someone raises their voice.
12:42But you talk to me
12:42like you're not afraid.
12:45Maybe I just don't care
12:46what happens anymore.
12:48You care,
12:49he said softly.
12:51That's your problem.
12:52Then what's yours?
12:53He smiled faintly.
12:55I kill the things
12:56I care about.
12:57My stomach twisted.
12:58That's not something
12:59to brag about.
13:00It's not a brag,
13:02he said.
13:03It's a warning.
13:04He moved closer.
13:06Slow enough
13:06that I could have
13:07stepped back,
13:08but I didn't.
13:09His hand brushed my jaw,
13:11thumb against my skin.
13:13His eyes were so dark
13:14they looked bottomless.
13:16I'm trying not to hurt you,
13:18he whispered.
13:19Then stop standing so close.
13:21He smiled.
13:23You don't want me to,
13:24and he was right.
13:25That was the worst part.
13:27From then on,
13:28every night felt like
13:29walking a wire
13:29between fear and hunger.
13:31He'd come late,
13:33sometimes bleeding
13:33from something
13:34he refused to explain.
13:35I'd clean the cuts
13:36while he smoked in silence.
13:38It became a routine
13:39neither of us acknowledged.
13:41One night,
13:41while wrapping his arm,
13:43I finally asked,
13:44Why me?
13:45Why this?
13:46He exhaled.
13:47Because you didn't ask
13:48who I was
13:49before you helped
13:50what was mine.
13:51That's a reason?
13:53It's the only one
13:53that matters in my world.
13:55He looked at me
13:56like he wanted to say more,
13:58but didn't trust himself.
14:00When he finally spoke again,
14:01his voice was rough.
14:03You shouldn't trust me.
14:05I don't.
14:06Then why are you still here?
14:07Because you told me
14:08not to run.
14:10I whispered.
14:12That silenced him.
14:14We didn't speak again
14:15that night,
14:16but something changed.
14:18The silence between us
14:19grew warmer,
14:20heavier.
14:21Days blurred.
14:23Weeks.
14:24His world began
14:24to leak into mine.
14:26Calls taken in the kitchen
14:27at 3 a.m.
14:28Men in black suits
14:29outside my window,
14:31a constant hum of danger
14:32disguised as order.
14:33I knew he was more
14:34than what I saw.
14:35I just didn't know
14:36how much more,
14:37until the night
14:38I found the file.
14:39He'd left his jacket
14:40draped over the couch.
14:42His phone buzzed,
14:43and when I reached
14:44to move it,
14:45a folder slipped
14:45out of the inner pocket.
14:47My name was on it.
14:48Evelyn Hale.
14:50Inside.
14:51Old photos,
14:52reports,
14:53a record of where
14:54I'd worked,
14:54who I'd seen,
14:55who I'd been running from,
14:56and one photograph
14:58I didn't expect.
14:59Me,
15:00years ago,
15:01standing next to my ex.
15:03The man I'd fled,
15:04the man who'd made me disappear.
15:07I felt my blood
15:08turn to ice.
15:09That's when I heard
15:10him behind me.
15:12You shouldn't have
15:12touched that.
15:14I turned.
15:15He was standing
15:15in the doorway,
15:17face unreadable.
15:18You've been watching me.
15:21I had to know
15:22who you were.
15:23You knew before
15:24you walked in that door.
15:25He didn't deny it.
15:28I felt tears
15:29sting my eyes.
15:30You're working for him,
15:31aren't you?
15:32You brought me here
15:33so he could find me.
15:34He stepped forward,
15:35fast,
15:36voice sharp.
15:37Don't ever say that again.
15:38Then why?
15:39Why keep me here?
15:41Because if he finds you,
15:42he kills you.
15:43And then I kill him.
15:44And that starts a war
15:45no one survives.
15:46My chest heaved.
15:47You expect me to believe
15:49you're protecting me?
15:50He grabbed my arm,
15:51not rough,
15:52just firm enough
15:53to stop me from shaking.
15:54I don't expect you
15:56to believe anything.
15:57I expect you to stay alive.
15:59Why?
15:59I whispered.
16:01His voice broke slightly
16:02when he said it.
16:04Because you remind me
16:05of the last thing
16:06I didn't destroy.
16:08The silence that followed
16:09was unbearable.
16:11He let go of me
16:12like it burned.
16:14You can leave if you want,
16:16but if you do,
16:17he'll find you within a day.
16:18I stared at him.
16:20And if I stay,
16:21then I'll have to choose
16:23between the man I was
16:24and the one you're
16:24making me become.
16:26He turned away
16:27before I could answer.
16:29I wanted to hate him.
16:30I wanted to scream,
16:31to run,
16:32but when he reached the door,
16:33I said,
16:35Damien.
16:36He froze.
16:37Don't go.
16:38He didn't.
16:39That night,
16:40he stayed.
16:42We didn't talk.
16:43Didn't touch.
16:44Just silence.
16:46Two people breathing
16:47in the dark,
16:48both pretending
16:48not to need
16:49what was already
16:49happening between us.
16:52I fell asleep
16:52to the sound
16:53of his heartbeat
16:54beneath my ear.
16:55The dog curled
16:56at our feet
16:56like a guard
16:57we didn't deserve.
16:59In the morning,
17:00I woke to sunlight
17:01and the smell of coffee.
17:03He was standing
17:03by the window,
17:04shirt half-buttoned,
17:05phone to his ear.
17:07His tone was clipped,
17:08dangerous.
17:09Then I heard it.
17:10My ex's name.
17:11He ended the call,
17:12met my eyes.
17:14You lied,
17:15I said quietly.
17:17He didn't answer.
17:19I stood.
17:20You said he wouldn't
17:20find me.
17:21He won't,
17:22Damien said.
17:23Because I just gave him
17:24something else to hunt.
17:26What?
17:27He looked at me,
17:28calm,
17:28almost tender.
17:29Me.
17:30My stomach dropped.
17:32What did you do?
17:33He walked closer,
17:34brushed his hand
17:35along my cheek,
17:36eyes soft but distant.
17:38You wanted to know
17:38why I came back?
17:40I nodded.
17:41To end it.
17:42Then he kissed me.
17:44Slow.
17:45Final.
17:46Like a man
17:46kissing the world goodbye.
17:48And when he pulled away,
17:50I saw it in his eyes.
17:52He was going to die for me.
17:57I didn't see him
17:58for forty-one days.
18:00That's how long it took
18:01for silence to become
18:02a language I could
18:03almost live inside.
18:05Forty-one days
18:06of watching the sun
18:06rise through dirty blinds.
18:08Of waiting for footsteps
18:10that never came.
18:11Of pretending I didn't
18:12still set two cups
18:13out every morning.
18:15Damien disappeared
18:16the same night
18:17he kissed me.
18:18One moment,
18:19his hand was on my face.
18:21The next,
18:21he was gone.
18:22No note.
18:23No call.
18:23No blood.
18:25Just gone.
18:25Chance stopped eating
18:26for a week.
18:27I stopped sleeping.
18:29The men who'd shadowed
18:29my building
18:30vanished too.
18:31It was like he'd
18:32erased his existence
18:33to protect mine.
18:35The city felt
18:36emptier without him.
18:37Safer, maybe.
18:38But safety was hollow
18:39when you'd already
18:40learned what danger
18:41felt like in human skin.
18:43I got a job
18:44at a small veterinary
18:45clinic across town.
18:47The irony wasn't
18:48lost on me.
18:50The girl who'd found
18:50one lost animal
18:51now spent her days
18:52saving others.
18:54Sometimes when I
18:54brushed a dog's fur,
18:56I'd remember how
18:57Damien's fingers
18:57had traced my jaw.
18:59Slow, deliberate.
19:01Like he was memorizing
19:02a secret he wasn't
19:03supposed to keep.
19:05I told myself
19:06he was dead.
19:06It was easier
19:08than wondering
19:09if he'd chosen
19:09not to come back.
19:11But every night,
19:12before turning out
19:13the lights,
19:14I'd whisper his name
19:14like a prayer
19:15I no longer believed in.
19:17Until the night
19:18the prayer answered itself.
19:20It was raining outside.
19:22I know.
19:23I promised I'd never
19:24set a story in the rain.
19:26But this isn't weather.
19:27It's memory.
19:28The air smelled
19:29like the world
19:30had cracked open.
19:31I was locking up
19:32the clinic when I saw
19:33him leaning against
19:33the alley wall
19:34across the street.
19:35Alive.
19:38Barely.
19:39His face was thinner,
19:40jaw bruised,
19:42one hand wrapped
19:42in bandages.
19:44But it was him.
19:45That stillness.
19:46That impossible calm
19:47I froze.
19:48You're supposed
19:49to be dead.
19:50He smiled faintly.
19:52So are you.
19:52I dropped the keys.
19:54Where the hell
19:54have you been?
19:55He looked at me
19:56like he couldn't decide
19:57whether to tell
19:58the truth or lie.
19:59Then,
20:01finishing it,
20:02he pushed off the wall,
20:03his movements slower
20:04than I remembered.
20:06Your ex,
20:06he's gone.
20:07Gone how?
20:08Permanently.
20:09I didn't ask more.
20:10I didn't need to.
20:12His eyes said enough.
20:13I wanted to hate him for it,
20:15for taking a life for mine.
20:16But all I could feel
20:17was the sharp,
20:18dizzy ache of relief.
20:19I whispered,
20:21You shouldn't have done that.
20:23You shouldn't have found my dog.
20:25That made me laugh.
20:26Broken and small.
20:28You came all this way
20:29to make jokes.
20:30He took a step closer.
20:32No.
20:33I came to see
20:34if you'd let me in.
20:36He looked like a man
20:37who didn't expect
20:37the answer to be yes.
20:39I should have said no.
20:41Should have told him
20:41I'd built a life
20:42that didn't need saving.
20:43But I opened the door anyway.
20:45Inside,
20:46everything felt too quiet.
20:48Chance lifted his head
20:49from the couch,
20:50tail wagging once
20:51before he limped over
20:52to Damien
20:53and pressed his head
20:54into his leg.
20:55Guess he missed you,
20:57I said.
20:58Guess you did too.
21:00He said it like a dare,
21:02not a question.
21:04I turned away.
21:05You're hurt.
21:06I've been worse.
21:07I crossed my arms.
21:09You're bleeding
21:09through your shirt.
21:11He looked down,
21:12then shrugged.
21:13You going to fix it
21:14or keep scolding me?
21:16So I fixed it.
21:17The same ritual as before.
21:19Rubbing alcohol,
21:20gauze,
21:21silence.
21:22Except this time,
21:23my hands shook
21:24for a different reason.
21:26Why come back?
21:26I finally asked.
21:28Because I'm done running.
21:29And because I couldn't
21:30stand the idea
21:31of you believing
21:32I'd left you.
21:33You did leave.
21:35He winced.
21:36I had to.
21:37Had to or wanted to.
21:38His eyes met mine.
21:40Steady.
21:40Dark.
21:41Both.
21:42I pressed harder
21:42on the bandage
21:43than necessary.
21:44He didn't flinch.
21:46He said quietly,
21:47When I was gone,
21:49I kept thinking
21:49about that first night.
21:51You opening the door.
21:52You should have
21:53slammed it in my face.
21:54I tried,
21:55I whispered,
21:56but you kept showing up.
21:59Still am.
22:00We both laughed then.
22:02The kind that hurts
22:03because it means
22:04you still care.
22:06He reached out,
22:07brushed my hair
22:08behind my ear
22:09the same way
22:09he had that first day.
22:11You look different.
22:13Older.
22:14Alive.
22:15Something inside me
22:15cracked at that.
22:17I hadn't realized
22:17how much I'd been pretending.
22:19He said,
22:20I'm not staying long.
22:22The words landed
22:23like a blade.
22:24Why not?
22:26I've done too many things
22:27that follow me.
22:28If I stay,
22:29they find you again.
22:30And I can't have that.
22:32You think I want
22:32to survive another goodbye?
22:34He didn't answer.
22:35So I said it for him.
22:37I don't.
22:38He took a step closer.
22:39Then what do you want, Evelyn?
22:41My voice trembled.
22:42I want to stop feeling
22:43like I have to earn peace.
22:45He nodded slowly,
22:46eyes softening.
22:48Then take it.
22:49You already did.
22:51We stood there in silence.
22:52Then I reached for his hand.
22:54Stay tonight.
22:55Just tonight.
22:56No promises.
22:57No lies.
22:58He hesitated,
22:59then nodded once.
23:00Just tonight?
23:01We didn't talk after that.
23:02We just existed.
23:04The way broken people do
23:05when words aren't enough.
23:07Later,
23:08lying beside him,
23:09I whispered,
23:10You ever think about
23:12what we could have been
23:13if things were different?
23:14He murmured against my skin.
23:16All the time.
23:18But then I remember.
23:19We wouldn't have found
23:20each other at all.
23:21Damien.
23:22Yeah?
23:23Do you believe in second chances?
23:25He was quiet for a long moment.
23:28Then?
23:28Only if you stop calling them second.
23:31It's still the same life.
23:32Just fewer lies.
23:34I don't remember falling asleep.
23:35Only the feeling of his breath
23:36steady beside mine.
23:38When I woke,
23:39the bed was empty.
23:41For a moment,
23:42I thought he'd vanished again.
23:44But on the nightstand
23:45was a folded envelope.
23:46No name,
23:47no seal.
23:48Inside was a single photograph.
23:50Me,
23:51Chance,
23:52sunlight pouring across
23:53the floor of that tiny apartment.
23:55On the back,
23:56his handwriting,
23:57You don't need me
23:58to be safe anymore.
24:00My throat closed.
24:01I didn't cry.
24:03Not then.
24:04I just sat there,
24:06holding that piece of him
24:07like it was the last
24:08fragile thing I owned.
24:10Weeks passed.
24:12The world kept moving.
24:14The clinic expanded.
24:15I started managing it.
24:16Chance grew old,
24:17but still followed me everywhere.
24:19I built something
24:20resembling normal.
24:22But sometimes,
24:23when I'd walk home
24:24past the harbor,
24:25I'd feel it.
24:26The echo of him
24:27in the air.
24:28That strange calm
24:29that had once terrified me now
24:31felt like protection.
24:32I never heard from him again.
24:35Not a call.
24:36Not a letter.
24:37Not even a whisper
24:38through the city's rumor chains.
24:40But every so often,
24:41I'd see the same black car
24:43parked across the street
24:44when I locked up
24:44for the night.
24:46Engine running.
24:47Lights dim.
24:48And I'd know.
24:49He was still out there.
24:50Watching.
24:52Making sure I stayed free.
24:54The last time I saw him,
24:55really saw him,
24:56was two years later.
24:58I was at the farmer's market
24:59with Chance,
25:01now graying around the muzzle.
25:03A man in a black shirt
25:04stood at the edge
25:04of the crowd,
25:05sleeves rolled,
25:06eyes hidden by sunglasses.
25:07He didn't move toward me,
25:10just nodded once.
25:11A quiet acknowledgement.
25:13I smiled.
25:14Small and sad.
25:16And for the first time,
25:17I didn't chase him.
25:19Because maybe love
25:19isn't about holding on.
25:22Maybe it's about knowing
25:22someone changed you
25:23so deeply
25:24that even absence
25:25feels like proof.
25:27I went home,
25:28poured a cup of coffee,
25:29sat on the floor
25:30beside my dog
25:31and whispered,
25:31He's okay.
25:33Chance looked at me,
25:34tail-thumping once.
25:36I am too,
25:37I said.
25:38And I meant it.
25:39I still think about
25:40that first night sometimes.
25:42How I found a lost dog
25:44and thought I was rescuing him.
25:46Turns out,
25:47he was never the one
25:47who needed saving.
25:49I was.
25:49Damien once told me,
25:50glass only breaks
25:51when it reflects
25:52something real.
25:53Maybe that's what we were.
25:55Sharp edges.
25:56Fragile light.
25:57Something that hurt to look at
25:59because it was honest.
26:00He didn't give me forever.
26:03He gave me after.
26:04And for the first time,
26:07after was enough.
26:09If this story reached you,
26:11if you felt her heartbeat,
26:13her fear,
26:14her healing,
26:16stay for more stories
26:17whispered in the dark.
26:19Subscribe,
26:20turn on the bell,
26:21and listen to the next confession
26:22that should have stayed untold.
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