Evaline:
It was already my third night at the Thorne mansion. A full three days had passed since I stepped back into this place that once felt like a gilded cage. And now… it was beginning to feel like something else entirely. Warm, welcoming, and strangely, a place where I was able to fall asleep peacefully.
Time was moving quicker than I thought it would. The dread I had anticipated on my first day never arrived, instead, it was replaced by a slow, gentle rhythm of routine and moments that made me smile.
I had expected to feel awkward here, guarded. But I wasn't. And most of the credit went to my mates… and to Kieran and Lily.
Oscar and Draven had mastered the art of sneaking around like lovesick teenagers - brushing their fingers against mine in the hallway when no one was watching, catching my hand just before I disappeared behind a door, leaning in for a quick, forbidden kiss in the privacy of my room when they dropped by "without Kieran" right before I went to sleep.
