Morning ca too quickly.
I’d slept, technically. Closed my eyes, breathed, and existed in horizontal silence. But rest didn’t happen. Not when my mind replayed the sa three thoughts on a loop:
Her mory is gone.
I did this.
Don’t break her again.
I dressed slower than usual — not out of hesitation, but calculation. No suit. No sharp lines. Nothing that could set off subconscious alarm bells. I needed to look... ordinary. Approachable. A stranger she wouldn’t flinch from.
Caron sat on my couch eating cereal like a holess raccoon who’d found civilization.
"You look terrifyingly normal," he said. "It’s disgusting. I hate it."
I ignored him and checked my watch again.
Too early to leave.
Too late to stop my hands from tightening.
By the ti we reached the amusent park parking lot, the entire world felt like it was holding its breath. Families were trickling in. Laughter, running feet, the tallic groan of roller coasters warming up — all too bright, too loud, too alive for the state of my chest.
Caron nudged . "You’re doing that face."
"What face."
"The ’soone stole my oxygen’ face."
I exhaled once, slow. "Quiet."
He quieted.
I scanned the entrance gates.
We would wait till she cos.
And I would see her soon.
And she wouldn’t know .
My wife.
My love.
My stranger.
ISABELLA’S POV
The closer we got to the amusent park, the louder everything beca — the distant hum of machinery and muffled music, a chaotic symphony that grew with every mile, the chorus of children screaming with both joy and trauma.
My stomach fluttered.
Aria slapped her hand against the steering wheel. "Look at you. Already excited."
"I’m terrified," I corrected.
"Sa thing." She parked the car with dramatic flair, nearly kissing a curb in the process. "Co on. Let’s go corrupt your inner child."
We stepped through the gates, and the world erupted around us
The sun had slipped into that warm, honey-colored glow that made everything look softer and slightly unreal. Kids were running everywhere, couples were holding hands, and the air slled like fried dough, grilled at, and irresponsible life choices.
Aria inhaled dramatically."God, baptize in cholesterol."
I snorted. "We just got here."
"Exactly. Ti to start the pilgrimage."
We did what we always did at places like this—ate through half the park before touching a single ride. Smoked turkey legs the size of my forearm. Churros dusted so generously with cinnamon sugar that the wind turned us into glittering pastries. And, of course, the mac-and-cheese cone that Aria insisted was "character developnt."
By the ti we finished, my stomach was pleasantly heavy, but I regretted nothing. My internal organs might have been staging a mild protest, but my taste buds were throwing an absolute fiesta.
Aria had a death grip on my wrist and a churro in her mouth.
"Co on," she mumbled around the sugar. "We’re doing the roller coaster next. I need to scream out the trauma of being alive."
I snorted. "You wake up alive every day, Aria."
"Exactly why I have trauma."
But she was grinning, tugging toward the massive ride twisting above the fairground. Neon lights, screaming riders, the scent of fried dough—chaos wrapped in joy. Exactly the kind of stupid fun I never let myself have unless Aria was involved.
We joined the long queue that snaked between tal railings and clusters of teens in crop tops and overconfidence. The wait didn’t bother either of us—we were too busy people-watching and debating whether the couple in front of us were about to break up or get engaged.
"Definitely a breakup," Aria whispered, her voice low and conspiratorial as she nudged with her elbow. "Look at her death grip on that giant teddy bear. She’s holding it like a shield. And he’s got that ’I’d rather be anywhere else’ slouch."
"I don’t know," I murmured back, studying them. "He paid for that giant bear. That’s a grand gesture. And he keeps looking at her when she’s not noticing. That’s not a breakup look. That’s a ’I’m terrified to ask but I’m going to’ look."
"A pre-proposal panic? Ooh, I’ll allow it." Aria’s eyes sparkled with the thrill of the narrative. "Ten bucks says he pops the question at the apex of the first drop."
"You’re on," I said, though we both knew we’d never actually collect. Our bets were just a way to make the world more interesting.
A group of girls in front of us suddenly went silent, then—
"Oh my god, look—look. Are you seeing what I’m seeing?" one of them squealed.
"The tall one—Jesus. Literally a Greek statue," another whispered.
"No, the one next to him. The jawline. God took his ti with that one."
Aria leaned slightly to the side, pretending not to be nosy while very much being nosy.But while she was peeking, sothing else hit .
A scent threaded through the crowd—clean, cool, sharp, and warm underneath. Not cologne-heavy like most n wore here. Just... familiar. Comforting. Like the kind of scent you’d lean into without realizing why.
It brushed my senses and sothing inside tightened.
Not in fear.
Not in discomfort.
Just... sothing.
A tug.
Like stepping into a room you swear you’ve been in before.
Like rembering a dream you can’t fully grasp.
I blinked hard, trying to ground myself.
Where had I slled that before?
Why did it feel like... safety?
And why did it make my chest ache like I’d left sothing—soone—behind?
I turned, slow, scanning the crowd.
I inhaled again, almost reflexively, but the scent was gone—mingled into the chaos of popcorn, engine grease, and sugar in the air.
Aria’s fingers touched my arm, gentle."Hey. You good?"
"Yeah," I said quickly. Too quickly.
"I just—felt sothing weird for a second."
"Good weird or ’I swallowed bad seafood’ weird?"
I swallowed.
"...I don’t know."
We moved again, the line inching forward.
Aria was still trying to figure out who the girls ahead were ogling.
But ?
I couldn’t stop thinking about that scent.
Why my body reacted before my brain.
Why it made sothing warm unfurl under my ribs.
Familiar.
But unfamiliar.
Comforting.
But confusing.
Like a ghost of a mory brushing fingertips across my skin.
I exhaled slowly.
"Maybe the roller coaster will shake it out of ," I said.
Aria grinned. "That’s the spirit."
The line moved.The coaster roared above us—tal, wind, delighted screaming.
We were nearly at the loading platform when the strange sensation tugged at again. Not the scent this ti—just an inexplicable prickle under my ribs. Like sothing important was near. Close enough to touch.
I ignored it.Adrenaline was probably making dramatic.
We climbed into the cart—Aria beside .
The ride attendants walked by, tugging at restraints, checking belts.
The mont the roller coaster jerked forward, I knew I’d made a mistake.
Not the "whee this will be fun" kind of mistake.
The I just ate an unreasonable amount of turkey legs, churros, nachos, and a mac-and-cheese cone kind of mistake.
The stranger in front of shifted, arms locked beneath the safety harness, tall shoulders rigid like he was carved from marble instead of... a man dood to be seated directly in my line of fire.
Aria bumped her shoulder against mine.
"You alive?"
"No," I said, swallowing. "Absolutely not."
The coaster clanked higher and higher, tal grinding, the sky opening wide above us in a way that felt personal.
Why was the sky so blue?
Why was the wind so loud?
Why was the mac-and-cheese suddenly staging a violent uprising?
Aria laughed, oblivious. "Look at the view!"
I did.
That was my second mistake.
My stomach lurched.
Hard.
I slapped a hand over my mouth.
I squeezed my eyes shut.
"Oh God—Aria—I’m gonna—"
"Oh no," Aria said, instantly switching from chaotic gremlin to horrified babysitter. "Bella. Bella, don’t you dare. Don’t you—"
I gagged.
"BELLA—"
The coaster dropped.
My stomach dropped.
My dignity dropped.
And then—
It was too late.
A catastrophic, explosive betrayal of my stomach launched itself forward...
...and the stranger in front of had the pure misfortune of existing in that direction.
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