Didn’t ask if she was okay. Didn’t say you handled that well.

Because Kael knew a storm didn’t need praise.

It needed space to settle.

Liana walked ahead of him, hair catching the sunlight like a warning. She didn’t look back. Didn’t slow down.

But she knew he was there.

After a few blocks, she finally stopped. Not at the cliffside. Not at her house. Just… a quiet spot overlooking the sea.

Still not looking at him, she said, “You think I’m cold.”

Kael stepped beside her. “No.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Liar.”

He let out a breath. “Maybe. But not about that.”

The wind whipped through the silence between them.

He glanced at her really looked this time. Not just at her guarded face, but the strength she wore like armor. Not the kind that protected, but the kind that had survived.

“I think you burn quietly,” he said. “And people mistake it for ice.”

She didn’t respond for a long time.

Then..

“I used to burn loudly,” she whispered. “Didn’t get me much.”

They stood there, side by side, not touching. The sea crashed below like a heartbeat out of rhythm.

Kael wanted to ask what Evan had done. What she'd lost.

But he didn’t.

Because she didn’t need someone to dig.

She needed someone to stand beside her and not flinch.

And so he did.