Lily

Coming home felt different now.

Not the house itself — that was exactly the same. The smell of it hit me the moment I walked through the door, that specific combination of my mom's candles and old wood and something that had no name but was just *home*, and for a second I stood in the hallway with my bag and felt nineteen again. Uncomplicated. Before everything.

Then Tyler appeared from the kitchen and hugged me and said *you look good, what's going on with you* and I understood that the uncomplicated feeling wasn't going to last very long.

"Nothing's going on," I said, extracting myself from the hug....