Page 17 of The Space Between
A knock comesto the door. As I open it, she’s standing there. She brought dinner… to my porch.
It’s simple, just two grilled cheese sandwiches wrapped in paper towels and a gallon-sized Mason jar of sweet tea that looks like something out of a memory I forgot I had.
“Sit,” she says, not asking, nodding at the steps.
It wasn’t a question, so I do.
She hands me a sandwich and curls her legs under her on the step beside me, her bare knee brushing mine. And we eat.
No plates. No table. Just the porch. The dark. The stars and the river whispering from right there, just out of reach.
“I had a nightmare last night,” she says quietly, breaking the silence. “That’s not unusual for me, but this one…” I freeze as she continues. “I don’t remember all of it. Just the feeling.”
“What feeling?” I ask, though I don’t want to.
“That I was still trapped. Still his.” She’s whispering.
What the fuck?
So, she had someone. Someone who hurt her…
I’m not surprised. I recognize the signs. But shit… who the fuck hurt her?
I say nothing, but my whole body tenses.
“I woke up in the dark and for a moment… I couldn’t remember if I’d really left.” Her voice shakes.
My jaw tightens.
She sets her sandwich down and wipes her hands on her shorts before leaning forward, staring at the darkness.
“I hate that he still owns space in my head.” She whispers.
“He doesn’t.” I growl.
She turns to face me. “Hedoes,though. Just like your accident owns you.”
I stare at her, jaw tight, hands clenched. She’s not wrong.
“You’re still punishing yourself for surviving,” she says. “And I’m still terrified I’m going to vanish… again.”
Silence. It’s heavy… sharp.
Suddenly, she reaches out and lays her hand flat against my chest, just over my racing heart.
It’s not soft. It’ssure.
I stop breathing.
“You feel that?” she whispers.
My heart hammers against her palm. I jerk my head, nodding.
She mutters, “This is real. This is now.”
I grab her wrist without thinking. Not hard. Just tight enough to ground myself in the heat of her skin. “I’m not ready,” I rasp, feeling her pulse race beneath my fingertips.
She nods. “Me either.”
