NICK

LAINE NEEDED to be cared for, just as I needed to care for her. Both need that special someone to slot so nicely into their broken parts.

It was beautiful.

It still is beautiful.

But this game can’t be all we are, not anymore.

I pour her a whisky as I pour myself one. “It’ll help calm you down,” I say.

She manages a smile.

I take a seat at the table opposite and we sit in silence no longer simmering with conflict.

We’re past that now.

My demons have backed away into their shadowy pit, and the girl in front of me no longer looks like her soul...