One thing about the sea, you can always depend on it.
No matter what happens, you will always hear the waves crash in the evening.
Even though my tears keep coming, something inside me loosens.
Enough to breathe without it hurting.
I’m not fixed. I’m not healed. But I’m not alone anymore.
My mind doesn’t get the only say, and that takes off a weight that suffocated me like I was drowning.
I sniff hard, trying to wipe my face with the back of my sleeve. It only smears the wetness around. “Luca?” I feel my stomach churn.
“Yeah.” His hand is still on my hand, and I don’t know why he insists on holding my hand so much.
“Don’t tell anyone,” I whisper.
My throat burns. “Not Yana. Not Zara. Not Matt. Not anyone. Please.”
His brow furrows, but he doesn’t hesitate. “Okay.”
“I mean it.” I swallow, the lump in my throat sharp enough to cut.
“Not even in a passing joke. Not even as a hint. It’s not— it’s not something I want them to know. I don’t want their pity. Or their faces when they find out I’m-” I stop before I start sobbing again.
He tilts my head until our eyes meet. “Tills.”
“What?” It comes out defensive.
“I won’t tell anyone.” His voice is quiet but steady, like a hand gripping yours in the dark. “Not Yana, not Zara, not Matt, not anyone. This stays with me. I promise.”
My chest clenches at that word.
Promise.
People always say it too easily. But I trust him.
The promise is like a weight settling instead of floating away.
“You mean it?” I ask, just to make sure.
“I mean it,” he says. “Not because it’s a secret. Because it’s yours.”
I nod, unable to speak.
He squeezes my hand gently, then lets it go. “You don’t have to be perfect around me. You don’t have to be anything but Tilly.”
I feel the tiniest flicker of relief, like someone had finally stopped pressing on a bruise.
We sit there in the kitchen, and I breathe.
Finally.
Chapter 18
Luca
I didn’t realize how much had shifted until now.
