Elena lay on her side, staring at the soft glow of her phone on the nightstand. The clock read 1:43 a.m., but sleep wasn't coming anytime soon.
The night kept playing back in her mind—every word, every pause, every look.
She'd told Alexander more than she usually told people she'd only known a few months.
About letting people in too easily.About getting hurt.About the boys with "pretty words and short attention spans."
And now, in the quiet of her room, she wondered if she'd said too much.
She grabbed the pillow beside her and hugged it to her chest, letting out a long sigh.
Had she sounded weak?Dramatic?Like she was fishing for sympathy?
Part of her hated the idea of being too open, too soon.But then…
She remembered his expression.The way he didn't look away when she said it.The way his jaw tightened, his voice firm when he said, "Then they were idiots."
It wasn't just what he said.It was how he said it.
Like he actually meant it.Like he wasn't trying to "fix" her, or offer empty words, but simply wanted her to know she deserved better.
And that mattered.
She rolled onto her back, staring at the ceiling.
Maybe she hadn't said too much.Maybe this was what it felt like to talk to someone who didn't use your words against you—someone who just listened.
Alexander didn't fill silences with platitudes. He let them stay. He gave her room to think, to breathe, and it made her want to trust him.
That realization left a quiet warmth in her chest.
She reached for her phone, her thumb hovering over his name in her messages.She wanted to say something—thank you, maybe—but stopped herself.
Not because she didn't want to, but because tonight already felt enough.She didn't need to wrap it in words.
Elena turned off the screen, set the phone down, and closed her eyes.
The last thing she thought about before sleep finally took her was the look in his eyes when he told her those boys were idiots.
And for the first time in a long time, she felt content.Not because someone had said the "right thing," but because someone had seen her, really seen her, and didn't look away.