//LEON MONOLOGUE//
Love.
Affection.
Belonging.
I didn't know which word fit what I felt back in Bram's house. Maybe none of them. Maybe all of them at once.
The air smelled like fresh bread from the bakery nearby. I could here people shouting greetings from stall to stall. Horses clopped down the dirt road. It all felt normal, just another morning in Evergreen. But inside me, everything was strange. Too quiet. Too loud. Too warm.
I kept remembering the moment she hugged me. The way her arms wrapped around my waist from behind. The way her cheek rested against my back. I could still feel the heat of her tears on my shirt. Strange how the body remembers warmth faster than pain.
I didn't move when she hugged me. I didn't push her away. I just stood there, frozen like the world had stopped for a second. Or maybe it was me who stopped.
