#Chapter 157: Oath and Regimen

I went back to my apartment. Mine. The one with the uneven stovetop burner and the coat rack I never hung right. The one I hadn’t stepped foot in since long before my heat, before I started sleeping in someone else’s bed and calling it safety. It felt strange walking back in like nothing had changed. It wasn’t haunted or vandalized. Just still. The lights were too white, too bright. My favorite mug was still by the sink, the one with the chipped rim. My jacket hung on the hook like I had only been gone a few hours. Simon’s place was across the hall, exactly where I left it. I could feel him inside, awake. Probably debating whether or not to check on me. He didn’t. I didn’t knock either. I stood just inside the doorway for a long time. My feet didn’t want to move past the threshold. The room felt like a stage I’d abandoned, my absence stretching across it like dust. I eventually curled into the corner of the couch and sat there until the silence stopped being unbearable and just bec