Evaline:
The words lingered in the air long after I said them, followed by a heavy and thick silence that almost felt suffocating.
I watched their faces carefully, taking in their confusion. They exchanged glances before all three fixing their questioning gazes on me.
I took a slow breath and told them everything.
From the very beginning.
From the moment I first met Charles in that small town diner - the shy boy who barely met anyone's eyes, who looked like the world had already taken too much from him.
How I saw him again at the academy.
How he always seemed to be at the wrong place at the wrong time… getting cornered, bullied, hurt.
How easy it had been to believe him, to trust him, and to protect him.
My voice faltered at times, especially when I spoke about how close we had become… how I had defended him again and again, never once doubting him.
Never once seeing the real him... the one behind that innconet face.
