We reach her building.
The apartment complex squats above an old laundromat and a closed pharmacy with a flickering green sign. The entrance light buzzes weakly overhead. Rain taps against the cracked awning while distant hover traffic murmurs above Halo’s skyline.
This should be where the night ends.
Instead, neither of us moves.
Evie stands one step above me on the entrance stair, close enough that I can see gold flecks in her eyes beneath the dim light. Her dress catches softly against the breeze. My umbrella hangs forgotten at my side.
“You’re still somewhere else,” she says quietly.
I could lie again.
I am suddenly too tired for it.
“A little.”
Her face softens immediately. “Do you want to tell me?”
“No.”
The answer comes rougher than intended.
Pain flickers across her expression again.
I hate myself instantly.
I step closer before the distance can harden into something worse. “Not because I do not trust you.”
“Then why?”
Because if Lenrog realizes exactly how much you matter to me, this city becomes a weapon pointed at your throat.
Because I already care enough to kill for you and that should terrify both of us.
Because happiness feels temporary, and men like me are trained to notice temporary things before they disappear.
None of those answers belong on a rain-soaked apartment step after a beautiful first date.
So I say the only truth I can offer safely.
“Because tonight mattered to me.”
Her breath catches.
“I do not want…” I struggle for words I was never taught how to use. “I do not want to stain it with ugliness yet.”
The silence that follows feels alive.
Then Evie steps closer until only inches remain between us. “Kauss.”
“Yes.”
“You don’t have to protect every moment from reality.”
“I know.”
“But thank you for wanting to.”
