-Kyle Vale:
I step out of the shower slowly, and for a few seconds I stand there in the bathroom without moving at all.
The air feels different outside the water—quieter, sharper, like it's no longer holding me in place the way the steam did. But the strangest part isn't the temperature or the silence.
It's the awareness.
Caspian is in my room.
That thought doesn't fade. It doesn't get replaced by anything else. It just stays there, steady and impossible to ignore, like my mind has decided that nothing else is important enough to take its place.
I've been thinking about him since the moment he agreed to stay.
Since the moment I saw him sitting there like it was normal for him to be in my space.
Since the moment I stopped being able to pretend this was just another ordinary day.
