CHAPTER 27: Echoes of Silence
The room felt heavier somehow, as if the air itself was holding its breath. Ava and Eli sat side by side on the worn-out couch, the space between them filled with everything they wanted to say but couldn't. Their hands hovered close but didn't quite touch—like fragile glass, afraid to shatter.
Ava swallowed hard, eyes fixed on the flickering candlelight casting shadows on the walls. She wanted to reach out, to break through the silence, but the guilt still clung to her like a second skin.
Eli's voice finally broke through, soft but steady. "I don't know how to forgive... not yet. But I want to try. For both of us."
His words were a balm, yet a challenge—a fragile thread stretched taut between them.
She turned to face him, searching his eyes for the man behind the scars. "I don't expect you to forget. I just want you to see me—not the mistake, not the past."
A slow nod. A faint smile.
They leaned closer, the distance closing until their fingers finally intertwined—a silent promise whispered in the darkness.
Outside, the world went on, but inside that small room, time slowed. There were no easy answers here, only the first steps toward something new: trust, healing, and maybe, just maybe, love reborn from the ashes.