"You've been quiet lately."
Renna again.
I didn't answer. Just kept wiping down the counter at the diner, waiting for Jesse to pick me up.
She eyed my neck.
"You seeing someone?" she asked casually.
I shrugged.
She leaned in a little. "Then tell your 'someone' to be careful where they leave their teeth. That collar can't cover everything."
My throat tightened.
I didn't say anything.
Because it wasn't shame I felt—it was exposure.
Like someone had reached under my skin and tugged something private into the light.
---
Jesse was waiting outside.
He didn't speak when I got in the truck.
Didn't reach for my hand.
Didn't say "hi" or "you okay" or "I missed you."
Just drove.
Knuckles tight on the wheel.
Eyes straight ahead.
Like he was trying not to touch something delicate inside him.
Or maybe like he already had.
---
At the shop, we worked in silence.
The air between us was… different.
Not angry. Not cold.
But distant.
Fractured.
Like we both knew something was coming, and neither of us had the words to stop it.
---
We returned together earlier cause as usual, Dad's not always home so I was going to sleep over...
That night, in his bed, he didn't collar me.
Didn't tie me up.
Didn't even tell me what to do.
He just laid there beside me.
Still.
Too still.
I turned to face him.
"Did I do something wrong?"
His eyes didn't meet mine.
"No," he said.
But his voice was all wrong.
---
"You're pulling away," I whispered.
"I'm trying not to."
"Then don't."
He finally looked at me.
"I told you this would get complicated."
I reached for his hand.
He let me take it. Let me lace our fingers together like it meant something.
"I don't need it to be simple," I said. "I need it to be real."
His thumb brushed over my knuckles.
Soft.
Hesitant.
Then he pulled me onto his chest. Held me like I was already slipping through his fingers.
---
The next morning, I woke up alone.