Aria's POV

Something was off with Damon.

I didn't know when exactly it started. Maybe it was gradual-shifts so small they didn't make noise until they finally echoed loud enough for me to notice.

But I did notice.

The first sign was the silence.

Not the comfortable one we usually shared, but a heavy kind... the type that felt like someone was hiding a stone in their chest.

He would zone out often. Lost in thought. Staring at nothing for long stretches-like his mind was struggling with ...