The first thing Mira learned about silence was that it wasn't empty.
It was crowded.
It was filled with everything you hadn't said, every choice you'd made, every name you were afraid to speak out loud because doing so might make it real.
She and Adrian sat behind the rocks long after the searchlights faded into the distance, long after the ocean settled back into its slow, indifferent rhythm. The world kept going, like it always did, even when someone you loved had been taken out of it.
Leo's grin still burned behind her eyelids.
Don't ruin this for me.
Her hands were clenched so tight her nails left crescents in her palms.
Adrian noticed.
He always did.
"You can break my hand if you want," he said softly. "I won't complain."
She huffed a shaky laugh and loosened her grip, then leaned her forehead against his shoulder.
"This is my fault," she whispered.
He shook his head. "No."
"If I hadn't released the files, "
