The evening air was cool against Eleena's skin as she stepped out onto the balcony of Jace's apartment. The city lights blinked below like distant stars, but her mind was far from the glittering skyline. Her heart felt heavy with a quiet ache she couldn't quite name.
Jace was inside, talking on the phone with a sharp edge in his voice that made her chest tighten. She wanted to believe it was just work stress, but something deeper whispered that there was more — something he wasn't ready to share.
She wrapped her arms around herself, trying to hold together the pieces of a day that had already begun to unravel.
When he finally stepped onto the balcony, his eyes found hers immediately, softening with a smile that almost made her believe everything was okay. "Hey," he said quietly, closing the distance between them.
"Hey," Eleena answered, her voice barely above a whisper.
For a moment, they just stood there, the silence between them heavy but familiar. She wanted to reach out, to touch him, to anchor herself to the one thing that felt certain. But the invisible walls he'd started building were already closing in.
"Jace, is something wrong?" Her words trembled with the fear she tried to hide.
He hesitated, running a hand through his hair. "It's nothing. Just… complicated."
Eleena's heart clenched. She hated that word. It was the mask for the secrets she wasn't allowed to see, the distance growing between them like an ocean she couldn't cross.
"Talk to me," she whispered, stepping closer. "Please."
He looked at her then — really looked — as if weighing the truth against the promise she'd given him. Finally, he shook his head and reached out, brushing a stray hair from her face.
"I don't want to hurt you."
But the words landed like a blow. Because loyalty had never been about avoiding pain. It had been about standing through it, no matter how deep the wound.
Eleena swallowed hard, fighting tears she didn't want to admit. "I'm already hurting, Jace. But I'm still here."
He pulled her into his arms, and for a moment, the world outside faded away. But deep inside, Eleena knew the fractures beneath the surface were only beginning to show.