Page 84 of Freestyle
I already did.
Twenty
Rowyn
Forthefirsttimein what feels like years, I don’t look over my shoulder every time I walk outside. I don’t brace myself for footsteps, don’t flinch when shadows shift wrong.
And somehow, that feels more terrifying than anything.
It should be a relief.
But peace feels unfamiliar in my skin, like I’m wearing someone else’s clothes, trying to pretend they were made for me. The calm is too quiet, the warmth is too sharp around the edges.
Because peacewas never something I believed I had a right to, not with the things I’ve seen. Not with the things that were done to me.
Now it’s quiet.
Gray and Phoenix… they’re the reason why.
They say I’m safe.
They say they’d burn the world down before letting anything happen to me, and I believe them.
Or I want to.
But I’ve been down this road before. I’ve heard promises dressed up as protection, and I’ve felt love used like a noose. So even now, wrapped in Gray’s hoodie and Phoenix’s silence, part of me is still waiting for the catch. For the shift, for that moment when safety turns into ownership, and care becomes control.
Because that’s how it always goes, right?
Except it hasn’t.
Not yet.
Phoenix stayed up all night just to keep watch. Gray reached for me in his sleep like I belonged there. Neither of them asked anything from me, no explanations, no apologies. Justpresence.Just…me.
And still, there’s this quiet war inside my chest.
Because I don’t know what’s more dangerous; trusting them with my heart… or admitting that I already am.
I’mfalling.
Not fast. Not recklessly.
But enough that it scares me.
Because maybe I’m not running from monsters anymore.
Maybe I ran straight into the arms of two men who would rip the world to shreds if it ever reached for me again.
And maybe the scariest part?
That I don’t want to run anymore.
I don’t say it.
Not with words.
Not out loud.
