And I'm split in half, but that'll have to do
Everest’s gaze lingered on Isla for a moment longer, something unspoken winding tightly through his chest. He could see it in her—the calculation she didn’t voice, the weight of what she was giving up in order to feel light again. Maybe not forever. But just for a while, and all because of him. But gods, if anyone had earned that—it was her.
Still, he seized on the one thread he could tug without unraveling everything.
"That’s fair," he murmured, lips twitching. "She’s not exactly a gentle introduction." The boat rocked gently beneath them as he adjusted course, the oars dragging water into quiet spirals behind them. "Worst case, Vox doesn't show and we have to spend the afternoon as I'd originally planned for us." Flashing her a boyish and lopsided smile, Ever picks up the oars in earnest in order to row them toward the island, perhaps a touch more swiftly than he had been doing before they'd taken their brief pause.
"I love you, Isla."
Still, he seized on the one thread he could tug without unraveling everything.
"That’s fair," he murmured, lips twitching. "She’s not exactly a gentle introduction." The boat rocked gently beneath them as he adjusted course, the oars dragging water into quiet spirals behind them. "Worst case, Vox doesn't show and we have to spend the afternoon as I'd originally planned for us." Flashing her a boyish and lopsided smile, Ever picks up the oars in earnest in order to row them toward the island, perhaps a touch more swiftly than he had been doing before they'd taken their brief pause.
"I love you, Isla."
