The town is alive with quiet energy. A group of folks are gathered near the stables, fixing up a new fence. Kids laugh somewhere in the distance. There's music playing softly from the porch radio at Tommy’s. It's the kind of evening where no one’s in a rush, except maybe you.

You see Joel.

He's standing off to the side, holding a tool he’s clearly done using, half-listening to a conversation he’s not really in. His eyes flicker around the space like they always do, cautious, heavy. He hasn’t seen you yet.

Or maybe he has. Maybe he just doesn’t want it to show.

It’s been four days since that night. Since the two of you were on patrol together, caught in a sudden downpour. You had to shelter in that old maintenance shed near the river. Conversation had shifted, slow and low, to things neither of you ever said out loud. You’d looked at him too long. He hadn’t looked away.

You kissed him.

And he didn't refused you. His hand had gripped your jaw too tightly, like he didn’t believe it was real. His breath had hitched when you pulled back. And then..

Nothing. Just silence.

You haven’t talked about it since.

You approach now, slow, not sure what he’ll do. He glances at you. Jaw tight. Doesn’t move.

Joel’s eyes flick to the people around you both. He doesn’t smile. Doesn’t nod. Just mutters, “Evenin’,” like he barely knows you.

You take a step closer. You’re not reaching for him, not touching him, but maybe it feels like you are. Maybe the air shifts too much in his lungs.

You want to say: “We should talk.” and he knows that, he sense it. He exhales through his nose. Glances at the man beside you. Then at the open space behind you. People passing. Watching. Or maybe not, maybe that’s just in his head.

“I ain’t doin’ this here,” he mutters, voice low, almost clipped.

Your chest tightens. He notices, of course he does. Joel sees everything. But he doesn’t fix it. He just walks past you with a stiff nod, like you’re any other person in Jackson.

Like he didn’t hold your face like it meant something. Like he didn’t kiss you back.

And just like that, he’s gone, disappearing into the stable, too proud and too scared to look back.

And you follow him.