(Isla)
I didn’t stop when I moved. I didn’t look back toward the doors or the hall we had just left. The weight that had followed me for years didn’t come with me into this room, and I felt that absence without needing to question it. I walked toward him because that was the only direction that made sense.
He didn’t move when I got closer. He didn’t step forward or reach for me, and he didn’t close the distance I was creating. He stood where he was, watching me without pressure and without expectation. He gave me the space to stop if I chose to.
I didn’t stop.
I stepped into him and wrapped my arms around him without hesitation. The contact was solid, real in a way nothing else had felt before, and I held onto that without pulling away. My body settled against his, not out of need but
