The steam in the bathroom filled Alice's lungs until every breath felt heavy. The hiss of the shower swallowed every sound beyond the thin door. She was glad for it. Glad the world outside couldn't hear her. Glad she couldn't hear the world.
The water beat down hard, soaking her hair until it clung to her face in wet ropes. Soaking the bandage wrapped around her arm.
It didn't matter.
The heat stung her swollen eyes, turning them raw, but she didn't move away from it. It was easier to just… stand here. Easier than thinking.
But thinking crept in anyway.
She could still feel the weight of his arms around her. Hades's arms, like phantom heat beneath the water's burn. The quiet, immovable way he'd held her when she'd collapsed against him earlier. No words. No judgment. Just that steady, solid presence that had felt, for one dangerous second, like safety.
