Caleb couldn't sleep.
He lay on the couch outside Maya's room, eyes fixed on the ceiling, yet his mind refused to rest. The silence of the house felt heavier than gunfire. Every breath he took reminded him of the moment her fingers had wrapped around his hand.
She was crying.
Even now, it felt as if Maya's tears were dropping directly onto his heart, slow and painful, leaving marks he couldn't erase. He had seen fear before. Hatred too. But this… this was different.
Her grip had been weak. Vulnerable. And it had shaken him.
Caleb clenched his jaw, turning to his side. Since when did her tears start affecting me?
Maya had changed. The fire in her eyes, the hatred he was used to—it was gone. Now, there was only something else, something dangerous and impossible to ignore.
Caleb finally let himself lie down outside Maya's room. Sleep came, but it brought no peace.
In an instant, he was back in that moment—Maya's father before him, and his own hands pulling the trigger. One shot. Silence.
And then he saw her. Maya. Her eyes were wide, filled with tears and revenge, but the pain in her gaze… it tore through him.
He jerked awake, heart pounding, sweat slick on his skin—and Maya was standing beside him, eyes wide with concern as she stared at his trembling, terrified face.
Without a word, she stepped closer, gently placing her hand on his cheek. "Are you… okay?" she asked softly, her voice trembling just slightly.
Caleb froze, her touch sending a jolt through him. He wasn't used to this softness from her—not like this. The guilt, the fear, the weight of his actions… it all collided in that moment.
And then, almost instinctively, he pulled back, refusing to let her hand stay on his face.
Maya's eyes softened, but there was a flicker of understanding in them—she knew. She knew he didn't allow anyone to be this close, not like this. Yet she didn't pull away; she just stayed there, watching him, quietly waiting.
Caleb took a sharp breath, forcing himself to steady his voice. "I'm… alright," he said, though the tightness in his chest betrayed him.
but his eyes didn't leave her. The tightness in his chest refused to ease.
Maya tilted her head slightly, watching him. There was a softness in her expression, but also a quiet curiosity. She noticed the sweat on his forehead, the trembling in his hands, the way his jaw clenched. He looked… broken, in a way she had never seen before.
"You… shouldn't be here," Caleb muttered, his voice low, almost strained. "It's late. Go back to bed."
"I couldn't sleep either," Maya said softly, but she didn't move away. Her gaze lingered on him, gentle yet probing, as if she were trying to understand the storm inside him.
Her hand twitched slightly, as if she wanted to reach out again. Caleb's chest tightened. He turned his head, not wanting to give her the chance. But even as he moved, he couldn't stop noticing the small, quiet ways she had changed, ways he had never expected—and that unsettled him more than he cared to admit.
For a long moment, they just stood there—her eyes full of concern, his eyes full of unspoken turmoil.
Maya looked at the couch beneath him, then back at his face. "You should sleep in the room tonight," she said quietly. "This couch isn't comfortable for you."
Caleb shook his head. "Where will you sleep then?"
She tapped the couch lightly. "Here."
"No," he replied immediately. "It's fine. You should sleep in the room."
Maya stayed silent for a moment, watching him. She could see it now—the exhaustion in his eyes, the way sleep never truly reached him. Her lips pressed together.
"You couldn't sleep peacefully," she said, more to herself than to him.
Then she looked back at him, stubborn. "You're sleeping in the room."
Caleb exhaled slowly. That look on her face… he knew it well enough now. I can't win against her.
"Fine," he said at last.
Minutes later, Caleb lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling. His body relaxed almost instantly, and before he realized it, sleep pulled him under.
—
When he woke up, the first thing he noticed was the quiet.
No weight on his chest. No nightmares.
Just calm.
He stared at the ceiling for a moment, realizing something strange—it had been a good nap. The first peaceful sleep he'd had in a long time.
Then he felt warmth beside him.
Caleb turned his head.
Maya was sleeping next to him.
She must have come sometime during the night, curled beside him, her breathing slow and steady. Her face looked calm… peaceful… untouched by fear.
A faint smile appeared on Caleb's lips before he could stop it.
She had stayed. So he could sleep.
And as he watched her resting quietly beside him, Caleb felt something settle in his chest—soft, unfamiliar, and dangerously real.
As he watched her, her lashes fluttered.
Maya stirred slightly… and then her eyes opened.
For a moment, she was confused. Then her gaze lifted—and met his.
Neither of them moved.
She didn't pull away. She didn't speak.
Her eyes softened as she looked at him, as if checking whether he was truly okay. Her fingers tightened slightly against the sheets between them—an unconscious, quiet gesture of care.
Caleb forgot to breathe.
The world seemed to slow, the silence stretching between them as their eyes remained locked. No anger. No fear. Just something unspoken, heavy, and warm.
Time stopped.
And in that stillness, neither of them looked away.
End of Episode 20