~~~~~~
Rome didn't go home that night. He couldn't.
By the time he reached his condominium, his chest already felt tight. Empty. Wrong.
Calyx and Alpheus offered to stay with him and drink all night, but Rome declined. He didn't want company. He didn't want comfort. He didn't want assumptions he wasn't ready to hear.
He wanted the truth.
Even if the truth was the very thing his chest already feared.
He changed into a plain shirt and sat at the edge of his bed, elbow resting on his knee, hand pressed against his forehead. He stared at the floor, yet all he saw was Sylvia clutching the boy to her chest like she was shielding him from him, specifically.
And that thought…
…it crushed something inside him.
A soft vibration broke the silence. Rome lifted his head.
His phone screen lit up with a name that made his chest tighten.
Gio.
Rome inhaled deeply, steadying the panic rising in his throat.
He answered. "Talk" Rome said quietly.
