Some aches don’t announce themselves. They settle quietly, deep in your bones, and wait for morning to make them real.

That’s what waking up felt like.

The silence in the room was thick, almost peaceful, if you didn’t know better.

Liam was still asleep beside me, arm loosely around my waist. But I slipped out of bed without waking him. I didn’t want to talk. Not yet.

I just needed something normal to do.

So I went to the kitchen.

I pulled eggs from the fridge, started scrambling, ...