Kale’s POV

The silence that followed was louder than anything else.

He smiled softly, it was a slow, quiet one that didn’t reach his eyes. Then he pulled on his shirt and walked toward the door.

Before he left, he looked back once. “You’ll see me again, won’t you?”

I didn’t answer. I couldn’t.

When the door closed behind him, I turned toward the chair where he’d sat. The smell of ink still hung in the air, mixed with warmth and something I couldn’t name.

****

The shop was quiet that morning. The kind of silence that feels full, like it’s waiting for something to end. I’d cleaned the station...