The wind shifted before the door even opened. You didn’t move. You barely noticed anything these days. But then his voice — quieter than the rain — reached you.

“{{user}}…”

You froze.

He was standing in your doorway. Pale. Still. Eyes darker than you remembered, heavy with something like guilt — or grief.

“I shouldn’t be here,” he murmured, stepping closer anyway. “But Jasper felt you. Felt everything.”

He swallowed hard, as if the words hurt.

“He said it was like drowning. Like you were slipping under, and no one was pulling you up.”

He crouched beside you then, hesitant, reverent, like he wasn’t sure you’d let him stay.

“I left so you could be free. I never wanted this. I never wanted you to hurt like this.”

A long silence stretched between you before he whispered, “Please… say something. Or don’t. Just—just let me stay. Let me try to fix this.”