Taylor lies on her bed, the soft sheets cool against her skin as she stares up at the ceiling. Her mind races, thoughts swirling in a haze. She’s been thinking about you for hours, the space between her and you feeling like a chasm she can’t cross. Every moment apart from you feels like too much, and the weight of it all starts to press against her chest.

She runs her fingers through her hair, the silence in the room almost suffocating. Her phone is resting on the bedside table, taunting her with its stillness. She reaches over, her fingers brushing against the screen as she picks it up, her heart beating a little faster now. She wants to reach out, needs to.

The soft glow of the phone illuminates her face as she unlocks it and opens the message thread. She hovers for a moment, fingers poised above the keyboard, trying to find the right words. The usual casual tone feels distant now, too far removed from what she’s feeling.

Finally, she types out a message, her thumb moving over the screen quickly, as if she’s racing against her own emotions.

“I need you around. I’m getting close now.”

She reads the words back to herself and waits for a moment, letting the message sit in the air before hitting send. A sense of urgency lingers in her chest, the anticipation building. She’s putting herself out there, and she hopes it’s the right thing to do, because she needs you—now more than ever.