Kael's Apartment – 10:09 AM.
Kael stood in the kitchen, shirt halfway buttoned, staring at the coffee brewing like it might answer the question burning through his chest.
"Who am I, without the pain?"
The sketchbook sat open on the table. Rin's portrait on one side. Amara's on the other. Same artist. Different memories.
Same love.
Different timelines.
He didn't hear the door open. Didn't hear Rin step inside.
Rin stood in the doorway, eyes scanning the room. The quiet. The unfinished breakfast. The weight of him.
"I saw her," she said.
Kael turned slowly. He didn't ask who. He didn't need to.
Rin walked over, dropped her keys on the counter. "I thought I'd be angry. I thought I'd scream. Maybe throw something."
Kael's voice was low. "Why didn't you?"
"Because she looked at me like she knew what it cost to survive you."
He blinked. That hit.
"I never wanted to make either of you feel like survivors," Kael said.
"But we are," Rin replied. "We survived different versions of you. One who was grieving. And one who never stopped."
Kael leaned back against the counter. "Rin—"
"No." She stepped forward now, voice calm but clear. "You don't get to explain anymore. You get to choose."
Kael opened his mouth—then closed it.
She nodded once.
"That's what I thought."
Selene's Bar – Late Afternoon.
Eli sat with a drink untouched in front of him. Nari was behind the bar cleaning glasses, her movements smooth like always.
"You okay?" she asked, not looking at him.
He chuckled. "You always ask like you already know I'm not."
"I ask because one day I want you to be."
Eli looked down at the rim of his glass. "What if I told you I don't know how to be?"
She didn't flinch. "Then I'd say try. With me."
He looked up. That froze him.
"You don't know what you're asking," he whispered.
"I don't need to," she said. "I just need to know if you're lying when you smile at me."
Eli's grip tightened around the glass. His jaw clenched.
"I saw my mom with a different man every week. My dad left because he couldn't take it.
One night, I walked in and saw her with a stranger—moaning like she loved it. She didn't even know I was there."
Silence.
Then: "That's what love means to me. That's what I grew up believing it was."
Nari's expression didn't change. She stepped closer, leaned her elbows on the bar.
"Then let me show you what it isn't."
Boston Medical – Rooftop.
Amara sat on the bench again, this time with her sketchbook closed beside her. The sun had dipped low, and the city looked painted in gold.
Nova joined her, coat in one hand, a file in the other.
"I found something," she said, breathless. "Kade dug into an old system. We have a name."
Amara's eyes locked on hers.
"Who?"
Nova opened the file. "Dominic Rayner. He used to follow you around campus. Dropped out without notice. Faked documents. And he moved—three times—in the last five years. He's hiding."
Amara stared down at her hands. They were steady now. "I want to see him."
Nova flinched. "Amara…"
"I don't mean alone," Amara said. "I mean I want to face him. One day. On my terms."
Nova nodded slowly. "Then we'll get you there."
Back at Kael's Apartment – Night.
Kael sat alone on the edge of the bed. The sketchbook was closed. But his phone lit up.
A message from Amara:
Thank you for the coat. And for not walking away from my silence.
A message from Rin followed seconds later:
If I matter, don't let silence be your answer anymore.
He stared at both.
Two names.
Two versions of the same heartbeat.
And a room that couldn't carry both forever.