-Vaughn Blackmore:
I had just finished talking to my mom on the phone when I stepped back into the living room.
For a moment, I stopped near the doorway.
The atmosphere inside had shifted again while I was gone. The earlier shock had settled into something quieter now, but heavier in a different way—like everyone was still processing what had been said, what had been suggested, and what it could mean. Nobody was really speaking over each other anymore. Even Julian, who usually filled the silence without trying, had gone still.
Ezra was still there.
Still standing in the same place.
Still looking like he didn't quite know where he fit into any of this yet.
And I couldn't stop looking at him either.
That same pull was still there in my chest. Not loud, not overwhelming, just steady. Unexplainable. Like my mind had already accepted something my logic hadn't caught up with yet.
I swallowed once and finally spoke.
