Chapter 7: The Morning After

The movie had ended hours ago, or maybe it was just minutes. Time had become a fluid thing in the dim light of the apartment, the storm outside a constant, low thrum that vibrated through the floorboards and into Serena’s bones. She’d fallen asleep on the couch, she knew that much. Curled into the soft side of the cushions, the blanket pulled up to her chin, Adrian’s silent presence a steady anchor in the room.

He’d stayed. He hadn’t left when the storm finally began to recede, hadn’t made any move to pry her from the unexpected comfort of his quiet company. He’d simply sat at the other end of the couch, a solid, unmoving presence in the periphery of her awareness, until sleep had finally claimed her.

When she woke, it was to a different kind of quiet. The rain had softened to a whisper against the glass, and the thunder was a distant memory, a rumble that had faded into the night. Adrian was no longer on the couch. She could feel the absence of him, a subtle shift in the room’s energy that was more noticeable than his presence had been.