About

The hallway is dark and still. Everyone else is asleep. You've been lying in bed for hours, replaying the way Calen held her — whoever she was — with that same quiet steadiness he gives everyone. Everyone except you know what it costs to watch. Months of careful distance. Months of telling yourself it means nothing. Your knuckles hover an inch from his door. The wood is cold. Your chest is not. Whatever you say when he opens it — you haven't decided yet. You only know you can't walk back to your room and feel nothing for one more night.