Time passes.
Then his voice breaks through the quiet again.
“I’m okay.”
The words are quiet and flat, but they are real.
My heart stutters in response.
Seth's throat works before he speaks again.
“I just need a minute.”
I lift my head slowly, searching his face, taking in the way his eyes have closed and his breathing has deepened slightly.
“Okay,” I whisper. “I’m here.”
I settle back against him, letting my body finally give in to the exhaustion as I focus on the steady rhythm of his breathing and the sound of his heart beneath my ear.
When his breathing evens out, mine follows. Sleep comes quietly, pulling me under before I can fight it.
I fall asleep holding him, because letting go feels like it will break everything.
My arm slides across the bed and meets cold sheets.
I sit up immediately, my heart already racing, and for one brief second I try to convince myself that he has only gone to the bathroom and that I have barely been asleep.
The clock on the nightstand tells me otherwise.
An hour has passed.
Panic climbs up my spine.
“Seth,” I whisper as I push myself out of bed.
The bathroom is empty, the light off, the door standing open with nothing inside.
I move down the hallway barefoot, checking every room with quick, panicked movements, but the living room is empty, and there is no sign that he has been there at all.
I knock on Travis’s door.
He opens it almost immediately, his expression shifting the second he sees my face. “What’s wrong?”
“Have you seen Seth?” I ask, the words coming out too fast. “He’s not in the room.”
Travis’s face tightens. “No.”
That is all it takes.
We move at the same time, heading down the hall to Beau’s door. Travis knocks once, and Beau yanks it open, already half dressed.
“Have you seen Seth?” I ask, my voice unsteady now.
“No,” Beau’s eyes flick past us down the hallway, and I can see the moment he understands. “Fuck.”
We don't say anything else. We run.
Cold air hits my face as we rush outside, and my eyes go straight to the driveway.
