Lucas put the last suitcase in the car and shut the trunk. The dull thud echoed louder than it should have. He stood there for a moment, staring at the pack house that had been his home for most of his life.
He was glad to be rid of it. Truly. Excited, even, for what came next.
And still, something inside him twisted.
He had grown up within those walls. Learned to fight there. Learned to endure. Learned how much could be expected of him before it crushed the air from his lungs. There were good memories tangled up with the bad, laughter threaded through the darker ones, and it made leaving feel heavier than he wanted it to.
With a quiet sigh, he pushed away from the car and headed back inside, his feet carrying him down familiar hallways without thought. He paused at the kitchen doorway
