with each love i cut loose i was never the same
Sunlight filters through a stained-glass ceiling of maple and oak, every leaf aflame with late-season gold. Flora walks beside Zavien along a narrow deer trail, hands nestled in the pockets of her jeans while fallen foliage whispers beneath their boots. Spice flutters ahead, a dart of winter-white weaving between scarlet branches and sending glittering frost motes tumbling in her wake.
"I never thanked you," Flora says. She tilts her head to catch a shard of dappled light, curls catching amber sparks. "At Pierce’s pool party—everything turned brutal so quickly, but it helped more than you know, seeing you pushing people toward safety." A breath leaves her, lifting a stray leaf before it settles again on the moss. "So thanks," she adds, meeting Zavien’s gaze with a warm, earnest half-smile that softens the lingering fatigue behind her eyes. "It was one less thing to worry about and I can't tell you how much it meant that you had my back."
"I never thanked you," Flora says. She tilts her head to catch a shard of dappled light, curls catching amber sparks. "At Pierce’s pool party—everything turned brutal so quickly, but it helped more than you know, seeing you pushing people toward safety." A breath leaves her, lifting a stray leaf before it settles again on the moss. "So thanks," she adds, meeting Zavien’s gaze with a warm, earnest half-smile that softens the lingering fatigue behind her eyes. "It was one less thing to worry about and I can't tell you how much it meant that you had my back."
