Page 57 of Echoes of Us
"Nobody ever does."Sarah's voice carried that practical edge she used when delivering hard truths."But it happened.And now you have to deal with it."
A quiet knock drew their attention.Dale stood in the doorway, his lean frame casting a long shadow across the lab floor.He wore that carefully neutral expression that had become his default around her, but Ashley caught the slight tightening of his jaw when their eyes met.
"The results from this morning's trials are ready," he said, his voice professionally distant.He placed a folder on the nearest counter, deliberately avoiding any chance of their fingers brushing."Review them when you can.I've marked the areas that need attention."
Before Ashley could respond, he was gone, his footsteps echoing down the hallway.The scent of his cologne - woody and familiar - lingered just long enough to make her chest ache.
“That was painful to watch," Sarah muttered, then softer: "He's hurting.And unlike some people, he can't just disappear for the summer to avoid dealing with it."
The guilt that had been simmering in Ashley's chest boiled over."You think I don't know that?You think I don't see it every time he looks at me like I'm a stranger?"
"Then do something about it!"Sarah's voice rose slightly, drawing curious glances from a couple of grad students across the lab.She lowered her tone but kept the intensity."Stop hiding behind these equations and talk to him.Really talk to him."
"And say what?"Ashley's voice cracked."'Sorry I couldn't kiss you because I'm in love with your brother, who, by the way, wants nothing to do with me now'?"
The words hung in the air between them, sharp and raw.It was the first time she'd admitted it out loud - not just her feelings for Cole, but the mess she'd made of everything.
Sarah's expression softened."Maybe start with the truth."
* * *
The walkto Dale's apartment felt longer than usual, each step weighted with purpose.The summer evening wrapped around her like a blanket, thick and humid, making her sundress cling to her skin.The campus had emptied for the season, leaving the paths eerily quiet save for the distant hum of cicadas and the soft scuff of her sandals against concrete.
Ashley paused outside his building, tilting her head back to count windows until she found his.Light spilled from the third floor, casting a warm rectangle onto the darkening lawn.The sight was achingly familiar - how many times had she looked up at that window this summer, wanting to bridge the distance she'd created?
Her phone buzzed in her bag.Sarah, probably, making sure she'd actually gone through with it.The reminder of her friend's determined support gave her the push she needed to climb the stairs.
The hallway looked different at night.Shadows pooled in corners, transforming the familiar space into something almost strange.Dale's door - plain gray, slightly scuffed at the bottom - seemed more imposing than usual.The sound of quiet music drifted through, something classical she couldn't name, but that felt perfectly, utterly Dale.
She knocked before she could lose her nerve.
The music stopped.Footsteps approached, measured and steady - so different from Cole's restless energy.When the door opened, the familiar scent of coffee and old books washed over her, mingled with Dale's cologne.
He stood there in dark jeans and a soft gray Henley, sleeves pushed to his elbows, looking somehow younger without his usual professional armor.His hair was slightly mussed like he'd been running his hands through it while working, and his wire-rimmed glasses caught the warm light from his desk lamp.
"Ashley."Her name carried none of the warmth it used to, but there wasn't anger either.Just a careful distance.
"Can we talk?"The words came out steadier than she felt."Please?"
For a moment, he didn't move.She watched his hand tighten on the doorframe and saw the slight clench of his jaw as he debated.Then he stepped back, a silent invitation she wasn't sure she deserved.
The apartment hadn't changed, but it felt different.Books still lined the walls, his desk still overflowed with papers, and that same worn armchair still sat by the window.But the easy comfort she'd once found here had been replaced by something more fragile like one wrong word might shatter whatever peace he'd managed to build in her absence.
Dale closed the door with quiet precision, then moved to lean against his desk.The position put the room's width between them - deliberate, she knew.Everything about him lately was deliberate.
"What do you need, Ashley?"His voice was steady and controlled.Professional.
The careful neutrality hurt worse than anger would have.She'd been prepared for anger and had rehearsed responses to accusations.This polite distance left her floundering.
"I miss you," she said finally, the truth spilling out before she could stop it."I miss how easy things used to be between us."
His expression didn't change, but something flickered in his eyes."Things were never easy between us.They were just...unspoken."
Ashley's fingers found the strap of her bag, twisting the worn canvas."I never meant to hurt you."
"No one ever does."His voice carried an edge she'd never heard before."Yet here we are."
The distance between them felt vast, uncrossable.She took a step forward, but Dale's subtle shift away stopped her."I should have been honest with you from the start."
