I thought about my own trip to the sea.
The freezing wind. The endless stretch of blue swallowing the horizon. The way my chest had tightened, as if I were standing on the edge of something too vast to understand.
I wanted to tell him.
I wanted to tell him how I had felt like I was drowning—how she had been the one to pull me back.
But the words wouldn't come. I couldn't tell Alex about Elara.
"The sea, huh?" I said instead, keeping my voice carefully neutral. "I bet it was cold."
"Freezing," Alex muttered, finally cracking a small, genuine smile. "But the air was cleaner than this dump."
"You traveled a lot," I noted, watching him.
"A few places. But yeah, coast was alright. The food was good, too," he said, staring off into the steam rising from the table.
"Actually, I was thinking... maybe we should move out there together someday. Together. Housing's expensive, but we could find something cheap on the outskirts. Anything's better than staying here."
