Seeing Rowan again did not feel like relief.
It felt like gravity returning.
Aaliyah noticed it in the smallest ways, the way her shoulders settled when Rowan spoke, the way the space between them no longer felt like absence but intention. They walked out of the gallery side by side, security a respectful distance away, the city pressing in with its usual indifference.
No hands intertwined.
No stolen touches.
But something quieter, stronger, threaded between them.
"You okay?" Rowan asked as they reached the curb.
Aaliyah nodded. "I didn't realize how much effort it took to stay steady without you in the same room."
Rowan's mouth curved faintly. "I did. I just didn't say it out loud."
They stood there for a moment, the afternoon sun warming the concrete, traffic moving past like a reminder that the world did not pause for personal revolutions.
"Come with me," Rowan said. "There's something you should see."
Aaliyah tilted her head. "Is that allowed?"
