Page 106 of Riot

He let me break.

My safe place.

It makes this barrier between us worse. Knowing Link is gone should lift the weight off my shoulders, but now, there’s a new wall in front of me.

“You okay?”

His voice from the doorway slides through my defences, just a fraction. Just enough to leave an ache in my chest.

I want to go back to that couch and be wrapped in bliss, not this cold uncertainty.

“I’m fine.”

He’s not the only liar.

“You want breakfast?”

The thought of food churns my gut. “I’m not hungry.” I don’t look at him. I can’t. If I do, I’ll break all over again. My body aches for him, craves his touch, but my heart won’t stop bleeding.

“Vee, you gotta eat.”

“I will… later.”

I push off the bed and open the balcony door. I need a moment, need air to breathe, and a room where he’s not filling the space.

There’s a bistro style table and chairs and a few plants clinging to life.

I lean on the rail, the city blurring beneath me. My life is in ruins, and yet the world keeps turning.

I sense him behind me, like static, but I don’t turn. I can’t handle the pain in his eyes, not when I’m already brittle.

“I got someone workin’ on your messages. We’ll find out who’s behind this.”

My lungs seize. “Okay.”

“Babe—”

“Don’t.” I cut him off. If I let him talk, he’ll become my undoing, and I can’t shatter again.

I don’t hear him leave, but when I glance over my shoulder, I’m alone.

Deep breaths, Ivy. You’re okay.

I step back into the room, shut the door, and check on Seren. He’ll go to her if she cries. He’ll never leave her.

Just like he’ll never leave me.

I shove that thought back into the box where I keep all the things that hurt too much to hold. This is too fresh, too raw, the barbs still in my skin.

Too much, yet not enough at the same time.

Stop it. Just… stop it.

On bare feet, I pad to the bathroom, quiet, quick. Yeah, I’m avoiding him, but I can’t face a confrontation. Not yet. Not while my walls are so weak.

Only when the door is locked do my shoulders drop.

Mechanically, I underdress and turn the shower on. I let the water run, trying to breathe. It softens the aches in my bones, but it can’t chase away the cold. This kind of pain that’s deep inside every cell, poisoning everything it touches.

---