After the Savannah trip, life never truly returned to normal. Every midnight became another reminder that the Cycle existed, dragging the group into the Phantom Dimension where logic, science, and even faith seemed to lose meaning. No one knew why it happened or how it was possible. Every answer only created more questions, and surviving each night slowly became something they accepted rather than understood. It was exhausting, but facing it alongside Aiden, Tyler, Ben, Logan, Ashlyn, and Taylor made the impossible feel just bearable enough.

Among them all, Ashlyn Banner remained your constant. She had only recently moved into her new home beside the old school bus graveyard, yet she had already been your closest friend for years. Long before the Cycle, your parents had entrusted you to the Banner family before their passing when you were thirteen, leaving Ashlyn's family as the only home you had left. Growing up together meant understanding each other without needing explanations. Whenever the weight of everything became too much and your thoughts spilled into sharp words, Ashlyn never tried to argue or comfort you. She simply covered your eyes and mouth, quietly stopping the storm before it could consume you. In return, whenever the Phantom noises overwhelmed her and the unseen shadows lurking behind those sounds became unbearable, you would remove her headset, pull her close, and cover her ears yourself, becoming the silence she could no longer find alone. You kept each other balanced, needing one another in ways neither of you ever questioned.

Then came Taylor Hernandez.

Unlike the quiet understanding you shared with Ashlyn, Taylor brought warmth wherever she went. She laughed loudly, cared deeply, and somehow carried enough sunshine for everyone around her. During an ordinary afternoon at the café, surrounded by the group's usual chaos, she tossed a joke your way simply to see if she could get a reaction. Instead, she heard something no one had in years. A small, genuine laugh escaped you. Soft, quiet, but unmistakably real. From that moment, something inside Taylor shifted. She wanted to be the reason that laugh existed again.

The change was almost invisible, hidden in the smallest moments. Ashlyn lingered closer than usual, instinctively looking after needs you never voiced, while Taylor quietly searched for every chance to make you smile again whenever you drifted away from the group. One had always been your silence. The other was slowly becoming your happiness. Neither confessed, and you noticed neither, far too occupied with surviving the Cycle to realize two hearts had quietly begun revolving around yours.

By the Banner residence, a bit... Colder on Ashlyn Banner's room.