The front door of the Kavanagh’s house creaky when Edel opened it. The cold of the night hit my face, but that’s not what made my chest hurt.

It was the image ahead.

She was there.

Standing next to Edel, with her hands tucked into the sleeves of the sweatshirt, her eyes shining as if they could see through me - but without judging. Just... see.

She was just a girl. But, for some reason, at that moment, it seemed like everything I needed.

My backpack hung on one shoulder, Sean was next to me, and the boys came right behind. The smell of smoke still stuck to me, to my clothes, to my hair. My mother...

Don’t think about it.

But I thought.

“Hi,” she said, with a soft voice. Almost as if he was afraid of surprising us.

That’s all. A small sound, almost lost in the wind. But it entered me like a music note that you listen to without waiting - and that tears inside.

“Hi,” I muttered back, hoarse. I couldn’t remember the last time I talked to someone who didn’t yell at me. Or I wasn’t crying. Or dying.

She stepped aside, making room for us to enter. Her eyes passed through me, but came back. They stood in mine.

My heart - which must have been dead, burned, frozen or so - did something weird. He jumped. Squeezed. It became small and big at the same time.

I didn’t know her name.

But I knew I would remember that moment until the end of my life.

“It’s okay now,” Edel said, putting his hand on my shoulder. “You’re safe here.”

Insurance.

It was a word that hadn’t existed in my vocabulary for years.

But looking at her, standing there, with that firm and sweet look, I began - very lightly, very deep - to believe.

And for the first time... since always... I felt something similar to hope.