A slight shift.
“Maybe not,” I said.
Silence followed.
Not empty this time.
Full again.
Rowan
The city outside kept moving.
But the room didn’t feel like it was part of that anymore.
Mason sat up fully now.
I noticed it immediately.
That small shift changed everything again.
Now we were both upright.
Both aware.
Both not pretending to sleep.
That should’ve felt normal for two people sharing a room.
It didn’t.
“Do you ever just… stop thinking?” Iasked.
“No,” he said.
That was immediate.
Honest.
I nodded slowly.
“Yeah,” I said. “Me neither.”
That was the first time the room felt like it stopped arguing with itself.
Not calm.
Just aligned in something neither of us said out loud.
Mason
She looked down at her phone again.
But not really using it.
Just holding it.
Same as before.
