When time finally ticked by, I got up.
I opened the window, staring back at my room as if to say goodbye.
I felt nothing for the space that had been my prison for so long. It was just a room.
As I shimmied down the tree to sneak over to Kieran’s house, I heard voices.
Ones I knew.
A truck was parked out front of Kieran’s house, engine rumbling softly in the night. A big man stood beside it, hefting Kieran’s bag into the cab.
And in front of it—
Sable and Kieran.
I crept closer, keeping to the shadows.
I knew they were a thing. They had been for a while.
I don’t even know what my plan was. Crawl into the back? Hide under a tarp? Anything to not be left behind.
A stick snapped under my foot.
The crack tore through the silence.
Both Sable and Kieran tensed.
“I don’t know why you’re leaving like this,” Sable whispered. “I could drive you.”
“I know.” His voice was low, strained. “Thank you. But I need you here. With her.”
“Kieran…” Sable breathed, her voice wrapping around him like warm chocolate.
They leaned their foreheads together, hands clasped, whispering words I couldn’t catch.
Tears streamed down Sable’s face. She nodded at something he said.
Then I heard him clearly.
“I have never loved anything in the world as much as I love you,” he said, voice shaking. “Nothing compares to it.”
Sable sobbed harder. “I know,” she whispered. “I know.”
“Seph is going to need you. You know how damn annoying she is.” A soft, shaky laugh. “She’s a constant tagalong. Always trying to follow people around, never caring about herself. You have to stop her doing something stupid.”
Something inside me cracked so loudly I was shocked they didn’t hear it.
My fingers went slack.
The bracelet I had made for him slipped from my hand and fell to the ground with a soft, final sound.
I must have gasped, because both Sable and Kieran looked up.
Sable’s face collapsed in devastation.
Kieran’s expression was unreadable.
“Seph…” he said, stepping toward me.
