He finally turned fully toward her. "I already forgave you, Annabelle. Doesn't mean I'm handing out hugs and kumbayas. But what you just said? That's real."
She blinked. "You're serious?"
He nodded. "You're not the same girl who once kicked me in the ribs to prove your side when your brother ordered it."
That made her flinch. He noticed. But she didn't look away.
"I'm not gonna pretend the punishment didn't happen," he said gently. "Because it needed to. But I can tell when someone's trying to claw their way into being better."
She swallowed, suddenly small under the moon. "It was the only way I knew how to keep breathing through all the lies. Bullying you… mocking you... it kept me from hating myself."
He smiled—not cruelly. But like someone who understood. "And now?"
She sighed. "Now I'm standing on a rooftop trying to be one of the good ones again. Which is ridiculous because I don't even know what that means."
