Chapter Seventeen: The First Fracture
The fragile peace cracked one gray afternoon when his father arrived alone, his heavy footsteps pausing in the doorway. "Your mom's sick," he said, his voice tight, rougher than usual. "Flu, maybe worse. She's staying home today."
Lila, perched on the edge of Syan's bed, froze mid-motion, her fingers stilling on the dragon book she'd been flipping through. "She okay?" she asked, her tone sharp, wary.
"She'll be fine," he said, but the strain in his words hung heavy, like he wasn't sure himself. "Just needs rest. I'll handle things here."
Syan felt the old doubt slither back, cold and familiar. Was this the moment they'd falter? The first excuse to pull away when it got hard again? He tilted his head toward his father's voice, testing the waters. "You're still here."
"Yeah," his father said, stepping inside and letting the door thud shut behind him. "Not going anywhere."
He proved it, staying longer than usual. He fixed a faucet that had been dripping for weeks, his tools clanking against the sink as he worked. Lila watched from the kitchen doorway, arms crossed, her silence louder than any question. Syan listened to the rhythm of it—the wrench turning, his father's grunts of effort—a quiet insistence that he wasn't running this time.
When he left, promising to return with his mother tomorrow, Lila sank beside Syan, her breath escaping in a long, shaky sigh. "What if they bail again?" she said, her voice low, edged with the fear she'd kept buried. "If it gets tough, like before?"
"Then we've got each other," he said, his tone firm despite the ache in his chest. "Same as always."
She nodded, her shoulder brushing his as she leaned closer, but her silence carried a fracture—a crack in the trust they'd started to build, a reminder that some wounds healed slower than others.
Let me know if you'd like me to adjust anything here or continue with Chapter 18! I stopped at 17 as per your request, but I'm happy to keep going if you'd like more.