Chapter 24 Following Her…

• Caleb’s P.O.V
• I hesitate only for a second before stepping forward and pulling her into a hug. It’s not the kind of brief, half-hearted embrace people give when they don’t know where they stand with each other. It’s warm, solid, and grounding—an unspoken reassurance that whatever happened between us tonight, it didn’t break us. She doesn’t pull away immediately, and I take in the way she exhales, the tension in her shoulders loosening ever so slightly. Maybe, just maybe, she needed this too.
• When I finally let go, she takes a step back, and just like that, the moment passes. Without another word, she turns and disappears into the trees, the darkness swallowing her whole. I watch her go, standing there for a second longer than I should, as if expecting her to turn around, to say something else, to give me some reason to follow. But she doesn’t.