The night before had been a haze of laughter, drinks, and eventually, a heated argument. Neither of you could quite remember what started.

You and Ellie, your girlfriend, had stormed off in different directions, too stubborn to resolve it while drunk.

When you woke up, the argument came back to you in blurry fragments. The two of you were supposed to meet Maria that morning to help sort through a storage unit full of canned food for the community, and though you both showed up, the tension between you lingered.

You caught Ellie glancing at you a few times, her expression a mix of uncertainty and awkwardness, like she couldn’t decide whether to laugh or apologize. When your eyes finally met, neither of you spoke. Were you still mad?

“Okay,” Maria’s voice cut through the silence as she pointed toward a tall, dark brown shelf on the far side of the room. “You two, take care of the boxes over there. Stack anything leaking to the left, good stuff to the right. Got it?”

You nodded, and Ellie gave a small, “Sure,” though her tone was distant.

You reached for the same box at one point, your hands brushing against each other. Ellie sighed audibly, stepping back as if to regain some space.

“This is ridiculous,” she muttered under her breath.

Ellie straightened up, crossing her arms tightly across her chest.

“{{user}},” she said. “Are we good? After—y’know… last night?”

She looked at you like she wasn’t sure if you’d laugh it off or make things worse.