' t raise his voice, he didn' t defend himself. He just watched her, his expression unreadable. The anger and hurt from t

she demanded, her anger slowly turning in

," he said, his voice even. "Yo

even when he wasn' t wrong, just to keep the peace. This quiet detachment was alien, and

creeping into her voice. She couldn' t connect the dots, or perhaps she r

ing away from her to tape another box shu

at. I' m going to go see how Alex is doing." She grabbed her purse and slammed the

d a one-way flight to Germany for the end of the week. He arranged to have his mail forwarded to his parents' address, a temporary measure until he ha

his best friend, Mark Davis. Mark' s eyes immediately fell

nd clapping a hand on Ethan' s shoulder. "I was wonder

tired smile. "I gues

oom, his expression hard

lex," Ethan said, the w

sgust. "Unbelievable. Sh

ing," Ethan admitted. He finally felt the weight of

me. You did the right thing. You gave that woman everything, man. You deser

Mark spoke again. "Remember that time in college you stayed up for thr

emory stirring. "Yeah.

thday party. She never once said she was proud of you. I saw it then, man. I knew she didn't

rightness of his choice. The memories were no longer tinged with

said, looking his friend in the eye

ttle. "To Germany. To a new start.

e sound was a small, definitive punctuation