For a long mont, I just stood there on the balcony, frozen.
The sunlight hit my face, warm and blinding, but all I could see was him. Dave.
Standing across the street, his eyes locked on like he couldn’t believe I was real. Beside him, there stood Grandpa Albert. It felt like for a while I have t them.
It felt like ti had stopped. My breath caught in my throat, my heart pounding so hard I could hear it in my ears.
He hadn’t changed much except for the dark circles under his eyes. And his once clean and shaved face now had a stubble, yet it cannot hide the sa sharp jawline of his.
Also, the sa stubborn look in his eyes was still present in them. The sa energy that sohow filled any space he walked into, but there was sothing else this ti...sothing heavier.
A sense of tiredness, maybe, or guilt.
I didn’t know how long I had been staring before Emma’s voice broke through my fog.
"Mommy! That man is staring us!" she said, pointing with her tiny finger, her tone half curious, half amused.
Her words snapped out of my trance so quickly that I almost stumbled back. My pulse spiked. Panic replaced every other emotion.
I turned sharply, pulling Emma close and rushing her back inside. I didn’t even close the balcony door properly.
I just wanted to get away from the window, away from that mont that didn’t feel real.
The mont I ca inside, I couldn’t help but lean against the wall.
My breathing is coming in fast, mostly uneven, and short. My hands trembled as I brushed Emma’s hair, pretending like everything was fine, but my mind was a storm.
He’s here.
He found .
Found us.
Sophie ca in from the small kitchen, confusion on her face," Elena, what’s wrong? You look pale."
I couldn’t even form words. My lips parted, but nothing ca out. My thoughts were racing too fast for my mouth to catch up.
So, Emma answered for as she saw struggling to get sothing out of my mouth.
"There was a man outside. He was staring at us. Mommy saw him, too." Emma said seriously, her small eyebrows furrowed.
Sophie froze for a second, then looked at sharply, "A man? Was he..." She didn’t finish her sentence.
She didn’t need to. I knew exactly what she was about to ask. Was he Dave Morris?
Before I could even think of how to respond, a sudden knock echoed through the apartnt.
Loud.
Heavy.
Like a final call.
All three of us went still. It felt like even the air stopped moving.
Emma clutched the edge of my dress, her wide eyes darting toward the door. Sophie’s face went pale as she whispered, "Should I... open it?"
I took a deep breath, forcing myself to stay calm even though my hands were cold and my legs felt weak.
I said softly at first, then louder, "No... I’ll do it. It’s ti to face this."
When I opened the door, it was like the years between us vanished. Dave stood there, tall and tense, his expression unreadable.
Behind him was Grandpa Albert. His presence was like a comforting shadow, though even he looked shaken...old.
For a second, none of us spoke. The silence was thick, filled with words that had been buried for far too long. Then Grandpa stepped forward, his eyes welling up.
"Elena," he said, voice trembling slightly. "My dear girl... I...I can’t believe it’s really you."
He reached out, hesitant at first, as if afraid I might disappear if he touched . I forced a small smile and nodded, unable to trust my voice yet. Even my eyes burned.
We all moved inside after that. The living room suddenly felt too small for everything that was happening.
Sophie quietly slipped into the kitchen, excusing herself in the na of making coffee. Probably to give us space.
Emma, completely unaware of the storm in the air, climbed onto Grandpa’s lap and started showing him her toy bunny.
Dave stayed near the wall, arms crossed, silent. His gaze never left . I could feel it. It felt heavy, searching, filled with a hundred questions he didn’t know how to ask.
I didn’t look directly at him, but I knew every ti his eyes moved.
Grandpa Albert kept talking, trying to fill the silence that none of us could handle.
He told how they had searched, how they had thought I had run away, how everything they believed had turned out to be wrong.
His voice broke when he said, "If only we had known, Elena. If only we had found you sooner..."
I wanted to say sothing... like anything to ease that guilt in his voice, but the words would not co.
What could I even say? That was it, okay? That the weeks or even months of fear and hiding didn’t matter now? They did. Every freaking mont did. To , it felt more than a hundred eternities.
So, I just sat there, nodding slightly, my hands wrapped tightly around the cup Sophie had placed in front of .
It was still too hot, but I didn’t let go. Maybe I needed the warmth to keep myself from falling apart.
Dave finally spoke, his voice lower than I rembered. "You are... really here."
I glanced at him then, eting his eyes for the first ti. His jaw tightened like he was trying to hold himself together.
"Thinking you were gone...betrayed us all, but finding out the truth about Josh...It...it changed everything," he continued, as his eyes t with mine, searching for sothing which I could not give him now. The truth.
I looked away, my chest tightening. "It changed , too," I said quietly.
For a mont, no one spoke. The sound of the clock ticking filled the room.
Emma giggled softly at sothing Grandpa whispered to her, her laughter a small, bright sound in the middle of all that tension.
When I looked at her, I realized how much had happened in silence, how many things were left unsaid between and the people sitting in this room.
She beca an unsaid daughter of mine whom I could not let go of. Not now. Not ever.
Grandpa suddenly leaned forward, his voice gentle but firm, "Elena, my dear, we should have been there. We should have seen the signs. I am so sorry you had to go through all this alone."
His sincerity broke sothing in . I had held everything together for so long...for Emma, for survival, but hearing his voice tremble like that made my throat ache.
Tears stung my eyes, but I blinked them away quickly.
I managed to say, "I don’t bla you. It’s just... It’s been hard. But we survived."
Dave moved closer then, hesitating before stopping a few steps away. He tried to say softly, "Elena, can I just..." but before he could, he stopped himself. His hand, which was now half raised, fell again.
Grandpa smiled faintly, sensing the unspoken emotions in the air. "Maybe we all need a bit of ti," he said, patting Emma’s head as she leaned on him.
"But at least we’re together now. That’s what matters."
I nodded, staring at the coffee cup again as I bit my lips, not able to comprehend everything. Together...the word felt sohow strange.
Foreign.
Fragile.
Like it could shatter at any mont, but for now, I held on to it.
Because for the first ti in years, the past was not chasing anymore. It was right here, sitting in my living room, looking at with tired eyes and hopeful hearts.
And maybe... just maybe... that was the beginning of sothing healing. But it will be on my terms.
The silence lingered for a long while after that. No one said anything; it was like the whole room was afraid to breathe too loudly.
I could feel their eyes on , Grandpa’s soft, forgiving ones and Dave’s searching, restless ones. Both were heavy in their own way.
And I knew they were waiting. Waiting for to say sothing more. To give them sothing. Maybe reassurance, forgiveness, maybe even comfort.
But I had none of that left to give.
I took another sip of coffee, which had started to get cold now, but it didn’t matter. The taste was bitter, just like the air around us.
I finally said quietly, setting the cup down, "I know you both an well, but I... I am not ready for this. Any of this."
Grandpa looked at with confusion, his lips parting as if to speak, but I lifted my hand slightly, asking him to let finish.
I was done being used.
Giving my everything, but not getting even a fraction in return.
I continued, my voice shaking a little, "I have spent months surviving, hiding, trying to keep Emma safe...from Josh, from everything."
I stared at them then at Sophia when my gaze softened for a mont as words fell out, "And now, when I started to feel safe, all those injuries, pain, screams...all of it crashed back." I stopped for a second, pressing a trembling hand to my chest.
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