"I've been… surviving," he admitted, his voice carrying a weight of honesty.
Sophia turned her gaze away, fixating on the shimmering veins of traffic below.
The city pulsed with life, but here they stood, caught in a moment that felt suspended.
Billy stepped closer, taking in her silhouette against the pale-blue skyline. "You've been hard to reach."
"I've been busy."
The words landed like a scalpel in the soft part of his chest, quick and sharp.
He tried to laugh it off. "Yeah, I noticed."
Sophia shot him a glance, her lips pressed into a tight line. "I've had three job interviews this week, Billy. After graduation, everything just hit at once. My parents wanted me to move back home, but I needed to find my own way. It's been… chaotic."
"I get that," he replied slowly, searching for the right words. "But I thought we'd navigate all that chaos together."
Her expression flickered,an unsettling mix of discomfort and guilt, but she masked it quickly.
