Too Close

The rain started sometime before dawn and never stopped.

By mid-morning the windows were streaked with it, the sky a flat, endless gray that made the whole apartment feel smaller. The kind of rain that turned the city into background noise and forced you to stay inside whether you wanted to or not. Noah had declared it a “no plans” day the second he woke up, still half-tangled in the blanket I had covered him with the night before. He stretched on the couch like a cat, voice rough with sleep, and said we were ordering food and watching whatever until the weather gave up.

I said fine....