Unbroken

I love you,I mouth to them, and I pretend for a measly moment that we’re still in bed together, sweaty and wanting, our hands needily exploring one another.

I open my eyes, peering at the knots with newfound calmness.

“You asked me if it was weird after what Loraine Itani did,” I say slowly, fear absent from my voice as I keep it together.

At my tone, they relax, and Fay nods. “Was it?”

“It took a while to regain our footing,” I admit.

“How long?”

Months…

And even then, things just got weirder.