They didn't celebrate Alessandro's exoneration with parties or champagne or any of the grand gestures his old life would have demanded.
Instead, they went home to their tiny Astoria apartment. Ordered Chinese food. Sat on their secondhand couch and just... existed together. Without fear. Without waiting for the next disaster. Just being.
"I keep expecting my phone to ring," Alessandro said. They were eating lo mein straight from the containers because they'd never bothered buying proper dishes. "Keep thinking there's going to be another emergency. Another crisis. Another reason this can't just be over."
"Me too." Sienna set down her chopsticks. "I keep waiting for someone to tell us this was a mistake. That the exoneration was premature. That there's more evidence we haven't seen yet."
"Is this what normal people feel like? This constant low-grade anxiety that something bad is coming?"
