Logan's boots crunching on the forest floor were the only sound as he pushed deeper into the woods. He could smell the dampness of the earth and the evergreens around him, but none of it calmed him. The air was thick with the haunting memory of the time he'd spent here with Aura—laughing, talking, sharing moments that now felt like fragments of a dream.
He glanced down at his phone again, as if hoping for a new message from her. The screen remained empty, save for his unanswered thoughts and the haunting message she had sent earlier.
Aura: I'm fine. I don't need saving, Logan. I need space.
His chest tightened, and the message became a weight in his hand. No matter how many times he read it, it didn't feel real. He couldn't understand it. The woman he had come to care for so deeply, the one he'd promised not to abandon, was now pushing him away.
