Page 123 of What Remains

Josie said nothing. She simply moved closer, her arm pressing warm against his.

"I couldn't do anything about that." His voice dropped lower. "That's the part that eats at me. I couldn't save them. I couldn't change what happened. I couldn't go back." He looked at her then, and his steps slowed. "But yesterday, I found myself driving away from two people who were still alive."

Josie's eyes filled. "Seth..."

"I know this is complicated."

He stopped. She stopped with him, the forest surrounding them in perfect white silence.

"I don't know what the hell we're doing."

That drew the smallest laugh from her. "Good. Because neither do I."

He smiled, brief and genuine. "But I know what I feel."

Her expression shifted. The defensiveness in her eyes softened into a quiet vulnerability that made his chest ache. Seth reached up and carefully tucked a tangled strand of hair away from her bruised cheek, letting his fingers linger.

"It's deep, Josie." He let the admission settle between them. "This is moving faster than it has any right to, and I don't know what to do with it."

She smiled through tears. "Nothing about this is normal, is it?"

He huffed a laugh. "Apparently." His thumb gently traced the uninjured side of her face, memorizing it. "I care about you. A lot." He took a breath, and his gaze softened further. "And that little girl... somewhere along the way, she got to me too."

Josie's breath caught.

Seth looked away for a second, a muscle twitching in his jaw. "Knowing you two were out here. Knowing anything could happen..." He shook his head slowly. "I couldn't live with that."

Josie searched his face. "Seth, you can't protect us from everything."

"I get that.”

"You can't promise nothing will happen to me."

"I get that too."

"And Layla⁠—"

"I know." He squeezed her hand, anchoring them both. "This isn't me saying I think you need someone standing over you with a rifle." A faint smile appeared. "Although today isn't exactly helping my argument."

She let out a soft laugh. "Asshole."

"Figured you were still in there."

Her smile lingered a moment before his expression turned serious again.

"I'm saying I want to be here."

Josie's eyes filled again before she could think of a single thing to say.

"You'd stay? For us?"

"Yeah." He hesitated, vulnerability flickering across his face. "If you'll have me."

She looked down at their intertwined fingers. "Well, you've wrecked my perfectly simple plan."

His brows pulled together. "What?"

"I had a perfectly reasonable plan."