POV: Aaron
8:00 AM — The Drive Back
I didn't pack a bag.
Didn't tell anyone I was coming.
I just… started driving.
The air was heavy. The sky looked bruised. One of those summer mornings that pretends to be peaceful but smells like rain.
I kept my music off.
Because I didn't want the distraction.
Because this wasn't a road trip.
This was a funeral march.
And I was the body.
9:12 AM — The House Comes Into View
Everything looked smaller.
The driveway. The porch. The tree I crashed my bike into when I was nine.
All of it felt like the skeleton of a memory.
And standing on the porch — arms crossed, expression unreadable — was Milo.
He saw me before I parked.
Didn't wave.
Didn't move.
Just stared.
9:14 AM — First Words
"You look worse than usual," he said.
I tried to laugh. Failed. "That your way of saying hi?"
Milo stepped aside. "Get in before Dad sees you from the window and calls a priest."
I walked past him and froze halfway across the living room.
