I helped her to her feet, though she barely seemed aware of it, her body moving more from habit than intention. \u201cCome on,\u201d I said, softer now, steadying her as she swayed slightly. \u201cLet\u2019s get you inside.\u201d The house loomed behind us\u2014large, pristine, every window dark except for the faint glow in the living room.<\/p>\n
Claire hesitated. It was subtle, but I felt it\u2014the way her body resisted that single step toward the front door. That was all I needed to know. This wasn\u2019t just a bad moment. This was something deeper, something that had been building long before I arrived.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t have to go in there,\u201d I added quickly, adjusting my grip on her arm. \u201cWe can go back to my place. Or anywhere. Just\u2026 not here.\u201d For the first time, she looked directly at me, really looked, as if weighing whether she was allowed to want that.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t think you\u2019d come,\u201d she whispered finally, her voice hoarse, barely audible over the rain. The words hit harder than anything else could have. Not I\u2019m fine. Not It\u2019s nothing. But that. A quiet confession of how alone she\u2019d felt. I helped her to her feet, though she barely seemed aware of it, her body moving more from habit than intention. \u201cCome on,\u201d I said, softer now,… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17504,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17509","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n
\nREAD MORE BELOW..<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"