The car slowed at the traffic light, the city stretching out ahead of them in long, familiar lines. Ava stared out the window, but she wasn't really seeing anything. The buildings blurred together and the movement outside was registering only faintly in her mind.
Damian watched her from the corner of his eye.
She had been quiet since they left the restaurant. Not withdrawn the way she had been days ago, not distant in that hollow, unreachable way, but focused. Her thoughts were clearly somewhere else, far off in a place only she could see.
The light turned green and he drove on.
After a few minutes, he spoke. "Do you want to go back home?"
The question was calm and offered without expectation.
Ava turned to him, surprised. For a second, she seemed to consider it seriously, the safety of the house, the quiet walls, the illusion of control.
"No," she said, more firmly than she felt. "Not yet."
