[WARNING! Unedited! Don't buy!]
Schrödinger circled my legs, tail flicking.
"Yeah," I murmured, crouching to scratch behind his ears. "It's going to be complicated."
The cat purred, unbothered.
I straightened, looking around the apartment—the same walls, the same furniture, now holding something new and fragile and real.
Tomorrow would be loud.
Tomorrow would ask questions.
But tonight, I stayed.
And for now, that choice felt steady enough to stand on.
The silence after Ren left felt different this time.
Not empty—never empty anymore—but alert. Like the apartment itself had gone still, listening for the next thing that might break the calm.
I didn't check my phone right away.
That alone felt like a small victory.
Instead, I fed Schrödinger again (against my better judgment), made tea I forgot to drink, and sat on the couch staring at nothing in particular. My thoughts circled, but they didn't spiral. Not yet.
I kept telling myself that.
