#Chapter 77: Side by Side

DEREK Elena hadn’t left my side since I’d nearly collapsed. She kept glancing over at me, eyes flicking to my face, the line of my jaw, the color of my skin. She passed me water before I even thought to ask for it. Pressed the protein bar into my hand again when I let it sit too long. Sat beside me in that stiff, plastic chair like she couldn’t bear to be further than arm’s reach. And maybe she couldn’t. Maybe it was instinct. Or guilt. But it didn’t feel like guilt. It felt like… care. It had been a long time since I’d felt this from her. Maybe I never really had. Not like this. Her presence had always been powerful—electric—but right now it was steady. Grounded. Her voice was softer when she spoke to me. Her touch lingered when she passed me the drink. She looked at me the way I had once only dreamed she would. Like I mattered. And it gutted me. Because I knew it wouldn’t last. When she finally settled into the chair beside me, her knees brushing mine, I turn