d Vicky was a

had nowhere else to go. I could have checked into a hotel, but I didn't want to be alone with my thoughts. Not then. Not

ent to

. Warm, open arms that wrapped around me like I wasn't the broken shell of my

doing," I said, my voice bar

d quiet, smelling of lavender and red wine. "You don't have to know what you'

e the next morning, she had already made tea. Mint and gi

retreat, she called it. More than therapy, less than a hospital. Just a quiet p

ezing lemon into her mug. "But it really he

n know if I deserved it. But something about the way s

two day

ounded like lullabies. I didn't take my phone. I didn't want Solace to reach me, not that he w

roup circles. Journaling. Talking to strangers about feelings I barely admitted

once when a woman named Mel tripped during morning

ut the pain, the guilt, the way I still smelled chlorine on my skin even though the pool had been drained an

che in my chest. Not just the kind that mourned. This one longed. Longed f

a break-a short visit home to s

I just wanted to say goodbye properly. But I remember what I wore that day-a soft cream dress Jason picked out for

the door of the hom

staring at the potted plant Jason and I once name

e door

ere sh

ck

a r

er eyes sleepy. M

id, like she'd

here, eyes flicking past her sho

ed from inside. "Bab

heart actua

like the devil himself realiz

old me she'd blocked him, who cried with me on her couch, who sent me off to therapy like

f them sa

e said

mbled as I s

ispered. "This is wha

her mouth, pr

snapped. "J

n I stopped. My hands clen

ed, the betrayal sinking deeper than anything I'd ever fel

eyes, but I bl

ou because you were the only friend I had left

o say somet

"We're done.

that, I w

dn't

t

osed that day. Something t