A/N: Sorry for the long wait! At least it's in the same month... I think...

Anyway, a lot of stuff's been going on, a lot of personal stuff, but I'm glad to finally be back on the writing course again~ The climax of the story is approaching now!

I planned out this entire story before even attempting to write it, so I had some good general ideas of what I wanted to do with it, but I gotta say... I've deviated from the plans a lot. Not sure, exactly, which one I'd prefer at this point, but I hope you guys are pleased with the outcome of this so far! Also hopefully, my writing will continue to get better and better as the end of this story approaches (don't worry, I have it planned to go to at least 13 chapter).

Thanks so much to my readers and reviewers! Stay tuned for more!

Oh and PS, it's pretty late at night right now so I haven't really proofread this yet... Sorry if you find any mistakes!

I felt sick.

I'd been avoiding Raeger for the past week, and so far it'd been good – except for how I felt, of course.

I was still going over to Eda's, and while she didn't outright tell me that my food was bad, I could see it on her face when she ate. Plus, sometimes I ate it, too, and it really was bad. I tried to improve my cooking, but it's hard to improve something when you don't have a teacher.

I knew I couldn't keep running away from everything, but at least as long as Eda needed my help, I'd devote all my attention to her. I definitely wasn't going to let her turn out like my grandmother.

"Do you need some sugar?" I asked her when my tea was finished.

She nodded and smiled. "That would be great, dear. Thank you."

"No problem!" I got up out of my chair and headed over to the counter, where she kept all her spices and such. She had a little teaspoon attached to the jar for convenience. "Did you want one or – "

For some reason, there was a knock on the door. I stopped mid-question and set my stuff down. Eda and I locked eyes – this was weird; I'd been coming over for a little over a week and she never got any visitors, which was honestly pretty sad but that was beside the point.

I went over to the door and peeked through the lookout hole.

I had a feeling it was him, but still, seeing Raeger's face kinda startled me. I cleared my throat.

"Um… I'll be right back," I told her. I didn't wait for a nod or another response.

When I stepped outside and shut the door I threw him a confused glance. "Why are you here?"

He just stood there with the same pose, arms crossed and blank face. "You haven't been coming to the restaurant lately. What's up?"

Well, did he check my house first, at least, or was he stalking me?

Wait. Was he… worried about me? Did he miss me?

I shook my head. No, there was no way. He had Lillie; why the heck would he want someone like me when he had someone as pretty and smart as Lillie?

Then again, why did I want someone like Raeger when I already had Johnny?

The sick feeling rested in my gut.

"I wanted to test out those recipes." I tried to sound nonchalant so that he wouldn't see through my half lie. I did at least glance at his lasagna recipe while I tried making it. Eda didn't seem to hate it, but…

"I thought you needed my help," he said, pretty unconvinced. I should've known better.

Well, I did still need his help – with a lot of things. But I wasn't about to admit that.

I bit my lip. What did I tell him then? "Uh, well – "

"Is something wrong, Annie?" His eyes looked full of concern, and if I didn't like him and didn't blush so much already, I would've cracked up laughing. That look didn't suit him at all.

"N-no, it's nothing, really," I insisted, looking away. He didn't need to be worried just for my sake. I'd be fine.

Raeger sighed. "Y'know, we're pretty close. You can tell me anything, Annie."

My face felt hot for a few moments. "That's…" I nodded slowly. "Okay." I could at least get something out of the way. Better now than never. I inhaled a deep breath.

"Raeger… we both have someone special already, right?"

He looked at me with a confused expression. He definitely didn't say what I thought he would, though. "You haven't dumped your boytoy yet?"

I frowned. "I'm serious."

He shrugged. "So am I."

My cheeks were warm. He really needed to stop saying that, getting my hopes up and everything. I cleared my throat. "Lillie's special to you, isn't she?"

He looked almost taken aback. "Of course." Hearing him say it so effortlessly kind of stung. "Why would you even ask that?"

Then his whole demeanor changed. He patted my head and gave me another one of those heartwarming chuckles. His hand slid down to my forehead, where it stayed for several moments while he put his other hand on his own forehead.

Was he… checking me for a fever? Did I really sound that crazy?

But well, I was crazy.

I was the person who was always bragging about how perfect her relationship was, when in reality it was so far from perfect that she could hardly even call it one in the first place. We only went out when it was convenient for him, we ticked each other off most of the time, and to top it off, it was so dysfunctional that I was being driven away to another guy.

If I wanted to see a perfect relationship so badly, all I had to do was look at Raeger and Lillie. They were so ridiculously in love it was painful to watch – though for more than one reason.

They didn't argue. They teased, not fought. I didn't think there was a time when I caught either of them upset with each other. There was that night I sat with Raeger, waiting for Lillie, and he seemed a little sad, and even before then when she mentioned her promotion and he didn't smile until their eyes met, but still.

They were so obviously meant for each other, and overall good together, that it made me feel… inferior.

And then there it was. The sentence I hadn't even completely thought about or formed before it came out.

"I want to break up with Johnny."

It was like word vomit.

The sick feeling only got worse as I said it, though, and after that, I just couldn't stop.

"He hasn't called me or even answered any of mine in over two weeks. I mean, we've been separated before and sure, it's been fine, but right now it's just confusing and awkward and painful. I don't want to leave him, I really, honestly don't, but what am I supposed to do? Am… am I just supposed to be happy and wait and stay with him? I know it'll eventually get better…"

What was wrong with me? If something's broken, including relationships, you fix it. You don't cry or whine about it to someone else and hope and wait for them to do something – if it's your problem, figure it out yourself.

Why was everything just so difficult now?

Was I… getting weaker? There was definitely something fishy going on ever since I'd moved here. What was it?

And then it hit me.

It was Raeger. He singlehandedly waltzed into my life and changed it, probably without even knowing it. In such a short time, he took this weird shell of a person, someone who honestly couldn't even walk up stairs despite taking underground subways every week, and turned me into an actual human being.

Was that why I liked him? Just because he helped me so much? If that was the case, then it would probably die down soon and I could move on with my life.

I was always comparing my happiness to his and to a lesser extent, Lillie's. Until he was out of the picture I wouldn't stop, but I wasn't going to leave the countryside and return to being even more miserable.

With Johnny.

I don't know when Raeger started hugging me, but I wrapped my arms around him and relaxed my head and neck on his shoulder. He was just so incredibly warm and soft and reliable and comforting, I didn't ever want to let go.

And honestly, I never felt anything like this with Johnny. This was the first time I'd felt like this since I was twelve years old.

I squeezed him harder. Who knows how long we were like that, but it wasn't long enough. I didn't cry again, but I knew that he wouldn't have minded if I did.

There was definitely no way I could keep seeing Johnny. Not with a clean conscience.

"You can't be happy like this."

His voice startled me, but when he pulled back to look at me, I was reminded of what all I'd said. I nodded slowly.

"I-I think I'm gonna call him again." Right after I said it I remembered all my other failed attempts. "On second thought, I should prob – "

"Go see him."

It didn't sound like a command – he was just finishing my half-baked sentence – but there was a certain stern tone to it.

I gulped. Would it be okay to just show up unannounced? What if he was busy, or at work? What if he didn't want to see me?

And what if he was thinking the same things I was, and he wanted to end things, too?

That would really be beneficial for me in the long run, but I didn't exactly want to think about life without Johnny.

Then again, I didn't want to think about feeling this way forever. "Stupid Raeger."

I didn't mean to say it out loud, and as soon as I did, I covered my mouth. Jeez, way to bite the hand that fed me.

Raeger just raised his eyebrow, though, and chuckled a little. "Why am I stupid?"

I shook my head. "I didn't mean that. It's just… I mean…"

"It's okay, Annie," he said, laughing again. "I can tell there's a lot on your mind. Just come by the restaurant sometime and we can talk."

I felt pressure on my head as he ruffled my hair, and I glared at him when he was done. When I saw how happy he looked, though, I had to swallow a huge lump in my throat. Was he going all this on purpose because he knew how embarrassed I got around him?

And when he said "we can talk," did he mean the three of us – him, me, and Lillie – or just us two? I liked Lillie a lot, honestly, but so far we'd only shared good times, other than when Raeger and I had our spat, also caused by Johnny. I didn't really feel like dumping all my problems on her, especially when she had her meteorologist job to worry about.

…Of course, to be fair, I should've left Raeger alone, too, but he was already so deep into it that it made no sense to exclude him now. Oh, well.

I swallowed my thoughts and nodded. "Thanks, Raeger. For everything."

He seemed to not know what to do with my sincere gratitude, so he ended up smiling awkwardly.

First impressions and introductions weren't much to go by, but I could definitely see that nervous, awkward side to him that he mentioned when we first met. I didn't mind, though. For one, it made him more approachable.

And for two, it was just one of his stupid little quirks that I'd learned to grow attached and attracted to.

…

I was planning on heading over to the restaurant after dinner so that he wouldn't be busy, and plus I still had to make some food for Eda. I wanted to make stew, just because it was a chilly night, but I remembered she didn't care much for it. That made things a little harder – I was running out of ingredients, and I certainly didn't want to use her stock of things. It was bad enough I only made her dinner, which meant she had to fend for herself during breakfast and lunch.

I managed to whip something up, anyway. To this day, it remains unnamed, the dish consisting of noodles, cheese, broccoli, and spinach. If I was Italian I might've had a fancy word for it, but I wasn't, so it was just classified as "stuff."

Six o'clock rolled around as I finished the preparations, and then I was over at Eda's.

We ate in comfortable silence for the most part, until she seemed to pick up on my horrible poker face, anyway.

"Is something the matter, Annie?" she asked. "You've seemed a little down lately."

I just smiled and shook my head, laughing it off. "No, it's nothing really important." I didn't want to lie and say there wasn't anything bothering me, but at the same time I wasn't going to worry her with my garbage.

"Oh? You don't have to hold back," she insisted. "I've had a problem or two in my day, and talking to someone will help."

I nodded. I loved Eda. She was so kind and sweet and wise. I really treasured my moments with her like this.

"It's… just a lovers' spat," I decided to say. Maybe even just being vague like this would help, at least tide me over till I met up with Raeger.

Because honestly, when you're thinking about breaking up with pretty much your other half, the thought of it tends to consume you.

Eda smiled sympathetically. "And you're dating that nice, young fellow… oh, Raeger, was it? The chef?"

My eyes widened and my heart slammed into my ribcage. "N-no. My boyfriend's out of town. His name's Johnny."

"Oh!" She grinned like she didn't understand the gravity of what she just said. "I could've sworn you two were together – fooled me, at least, with his appearance earlier."

You two… Me and Raeger? I didn't ever really give it much thought… me and him together. It wasn't that I didn't want it, I mean eventually – just not right now, because right now I needed to worry about my actual boyfriend.

I was past the point of denying it again, but maybe my Raeger crush still would go away soon. I didn't hate feeling this way, but it was just really inconvenient.

He always teased and insulted me, and sometimes I didn't understand why Lillie was with him… but then other times he made my heart race and my head rush. But was that just because I wasn't used to that kind of attention from a guy? Johnny didn't treat me that way. I was super lucky to get the sweet talk over the phone, and especially that kiss.

Johnny treated me like "one of the guys," sure, and I liked that, but for some reason, everything was different with Raeger. Everything was… amplified.

Was it obvious that I liked him, then, if even Eda thought we were dating? Was that what it looked like to the people around us, and that was why Johnny got jealous that time?

Did it look like that to Lillie? To Raeger…?

I shook my head. I was getting way too ahead of myself. Eda just remembered him outside a few hours ago and assumed whatever. He did look pretty angry, so it was understandable that she guessed what she did.

Besides, I don't think I ever mentioned Johnny to her.

"N-no," I told her after my thoughts calmed down. "There's nothing between me and Raeger."

And there wasn't, and there probably wasn't ever going to be.

…

"So… you add… paprika?" I probably didn't even own any paprika, and I knew I'd never tasted it, either.

Raeger laughed from his stool in front of me. This was one of those rare occasions I was allowed in his kitchen, let alone to use his cookware.

Lillie was still at work, and it pained me to admit that I was happy, but she was supposed to show up later so that was probably why Raeger was in such a good mood.

Well, at least that was what I thought – I hoped he wasn't just happily feeling superior because I was crap at cooking.

"Yep," he said. "It adds flavor and texture, and it helps make dishes look authentic."

I nodded, still eyeing the tiny can warily. It did make sense, because every time you go out to any non-fast food restaurant, there's always those little garnishes and sages on your plate.

I shrugged and flipped open the lid. Raeger had no reason to lie to me – well, okay, at least not when he knew what he was teaching me to cook was benefitting an uninvolved, innocent person.

"How much do I put in?" I asked. I was just making devilled eggs, so if I added too much it'd stick to all the egg yolk and never come out.

I heard him get up out of his stool. "About three tablespoons for this amount. Sorry, I didn't show you where those are." He stepped around the edge of the counter before I could tell him I'd find it, and then he dug around in one of the drawers. He pulled out a strung together measuring spoon set and stared at it intensely, like it was the devil spawn or something. I stifled a laugh.

"What's the matter with it?"

He looked at it for another moment or two, then scratched his head. "This… they don't have the quantities."

"What?"

"The marks are all rubbed off."

I blinked. What did that matter? "Aren't you a chef?"

He made some sort of sheepish face and shrugged. "I normally just guess and taste test."

Oh, I see. He didn't think I could do the same.

So why the heck did he bring them out in the first place? To make himself feel better than me again or something?

I shook my head. "You're so weird, Raeger." I laughed when he made a pouty face, and then he attacked my hair. "Hey!"

He ignored my whines and protests until we heard a clack on the floor. It was those stupid measuring spoons, probably fallen during his antics. We didn't need them – or at least couldn't use them – but I wouldn't let them just sit on the floor like that. I doubted he would, either, with that clean freak side, but still, I would wash it.

I quickly knelt down to pick it up, but I guess we must've had the same idea because he did the same. We banged heads and both made unsatisfactory noises of pain. I rubbed at my horsehead, where it hurt the most, and I imagined he was doing it, too.

"Ugh… are you o – ow!"

Our heads collided again and this time I made sure to scoot back a little. We were both obviously pretty dumb at this point so who knew how many more times that would happen.

"Jeez," I heard him say. I looked up, no longer in danger of head trauma. "You okay, Annie?"

I managed to nod, but it hurt pretty badly. I must've made it obvious because for the second time that day, Raeger pressed his warm hand to my forehead. I winced.

"Does this hurt?"

Of course, I wasn't able to enjoy his warmth because the pain overpowered it.

"Ow! Yes, that hurts, you moron!" I slapped his hand away and put mine back, rubbing tenderly at the part he abused.

"S-sorry," he said pretty lamely. What a dork. He cleared his throat. "You need me to get you anything?"

I scoffed. "I'm fine. It's just a little headache." He didn't seem convinced, though. "If you really wanna help, start wearing a padded helmet," I joked, though I admit it didn't make much sense – shouldn't I have been the one to wear it?

He still laughed lightly at my idiocy, and then I realized that we, a couple of twenty-somethings, were sitting cross-legged on the floor. It wasn't too dirty or anything, so I didn't really mind, but it was just a little funny. I wondered how silly we looked.

"Here, lemme get that sp – "

Unfortunately, I never got to see Raeger's floor pose from above because the door burst open. It was right around closing time so I didn't think it was a customer… and we were only expecting one other person to show up, anyway…

So that meant it was Lillie? She wasn't supposed to be back until later. Did she know I was here? Did she know that I'd been coming here? What about the stove? It was still on.

I didn't really have anything to be nervous about – I doubted she would get mad or care too much anyway – but maybe I was just on edge because I felt guilty. So, so guilty.

Raeger and I shared a sober expression before he used to top of my head to boost himself up, keeping his hand there. Did he… not want me to come up with him? Would it really matter that much?

I stayed rooted to the floor, my bare ankles starting to stick from the sweat that accumulated while they talked. Suddenly, it felt like I really just wasn't supposed to be here at all.

"Work was sooo tiring," Lillie said, sighing. I heard the stool slide back and squeak, so she probably sat down.

Raeger just laughed. There was a hint of nervousness in it, and I hoped Lillie didn't hear that. "Well, just relax for a while, then. I've got some devilled eggs just finishing up now, if you're interested."

He was claiming my food as his own?! That je –

Well, okay, if he was doing something that risky, he was obviously pretty desperate, then, right?

In any case, there was a short pause, like she looked over to where the food was. She groaned. "You know I hate it when you heat the yolk up."

"Sorry. It tastes better that way," he told her simply. He was covering for me. Why? Even though I didn't really want her to know I was here, either, what was so bad about it? Why didn't he want her to know I was here?

"Only if you have terrible taste buds."

"Yeah, yeah, or no taste buds," he agreed, sarcasm lacing his voice. I had to stifle a laugh. They were funny together.

"Hang on," he said suddenly. "I dropped my measuring spoons when you came in."

He crouched down to my level and looked me in the eyes. "Sorry," he mouthed, and took the spoons from my hand. He scooted past me a little to open up a cabinet door. I glanced at it briefly, then at him, confused. What?

"Get in," he whispered lowly. I stared at him like he was crazy; there were all sorts of cleaning bottles and whatnot. For one, I wouldn't be able to fit, and for two, it'd be dark in there.

"Please," he begged in his whisper tone. He pulled the door open wider, his arm brushing against mine in the process, and gave me these puppy dog eyes I'd never seen from him before.

I covered my mouth with my hand so I didn't crack up, and I nodded. How bad could it be?

Besides, it kinda felt like we were… sneaking around, almost. It gave me just a faint trace of satisfaction, knowing that we were partners in crime right now and nobody knew but us. It was something that only the two of us were included in. My heart swelled despite the totally unromantic situation I was in.

I tried to fit my legs in first but all that did was kick those cleaning supplies around so I took them back out immediately, glancing over to Raeger for advice. He stuck up his index finger, telling me to give him a second.

"Ugh," he said, getting up. "Stupid things were hiding."

"What was that noise?" Lillie asked, probably about me kicking the bottles. Oops.

He laughed. "I banged my knee on the cabinet."

"Are you okay?"

"Yup. I'm gonna rinse these off, though, so hold on – this sink's pretty loud."

And that was my cue, I guessed. The sink, indeed, was loud, and since the cabinet he directed me to was where the pipes were, that'd probably mask all the noise.

If I wasn't in such a rush, I would commend him for his academy award acting skills. Very believable.

I could tell he was just stalling, so I worked quickly, pushing all those stupid bottles to the other side. Then I climbed in, thankful I didn't hit my head – it still kind of hurt from its previous encounter with Raeger's.

After I shut the door and squished myself up, I realized it really was dark. I wasn't afraid of the dark, per se, but I definitely preferred well-lit areas. I gulped. At least it wouldn't be for too long, and my eyes would adjust soon. I hoped.

Raeger shut the sink off, and then I just heard footsteps. Their voices were kind of muffled from inside here, but I could understand most of everything.

"You're acting a little weird, Raeger," Lillie's voice rang. "Do you have a fever or something?" Well, she didn't miss anything, did she?

But the thought of her resting her hand on his forehead like he did for me earlier plagued my mind, and my insides burned with jealousy.

"No, I'm fine. I'm just a little tired."

"Long day, right? Me, too," she said, and then they stayed quiet for a few.

Maybe Raeger went to go check on the food, because I heard more footsteps, but I was pretty sure Lillie stayed where she was.

"There, it's all done," he said. I couldn't see how much paprika he added. Why did I have to stay in here, anyway? Was he afraid I'd jump up and give myself away or something? Did he think Lillie would come in the kitchen?

Of course she would. She was his girlfriend, and she was allowed to.

Well, regardless, my body was getting all stiff, and I didn't feel right just listening to their whole conversation. But I couldn't just tune it out.

"Thanks," Lillie said half-heartedly – at least, it sounded like it. Maybe it was because the yolk on top was warm. Sorry, Lillie, that was what Raeger told me to do. I don't think either of us knew she would be coming early tonight.

"Y'know, you could put away your phone every once in a while. I have enough trouble talking to you as it is."

My breath hitched. Raeger sounded… mad.

I heard something clatter on the counter – the cellphone?

"There." She sounded annoyed. "Sorry for checking up on my job."

He sighed. "You're always there, anyway. Don't you get tired of it?"

"Why do you think I took the job promotion, Raeger? I love what I do."

"Yeah, you love that job more than me."

Ouch.

I was starting to feel way too uncomfortable now. This wasn't my business at all.

And honestly, I liked thinking that their relationship was perfectly so I'd feel bad about even thinking of coming between them. But… it also got me thinking.

Was this what Johnny and I sounded like? We just argue for no reason?

I didn't really have trouble believing that our relationship was pretty crummy now, but what about theirs? Was it just as bad?

I idolized the two of them, their relationship. Suddenly it didn't seem at all as perfect as I'd thought it was, and honestly, if theirs was bad… what hope did I have for my and Johnny's?

My head was spinning. I didn't want to think about that. I had to stay with Johnny, and Raeger absolutely had to stay with Lillie.

That was right. Every couple fought, that was nothing new. Everything would be fine.

I clamped my hands over my ears. Everything would be fine.

…

I reverted back to my avoiding Raeger state, which went on for another few days, but I did start acquainting myself with other townspeople. Iris in particular seemed to take a liking to me.

Even though I'd been keeping her vegetable-color voodoo thing in the back of my mind, I couldn't help but think she was… well, weird.

She apologized for her abruptness and crazy theories, though, and finally admitted that she was only using me for her novel. I was the perfect subject to test for reactions, apparently.

She told me her book was about a naïve, dense girl and a thick-headed guy who didn't know they were in love with each other. The two would go from relationship to relationship, unhappily, never understanding why they couldn't be successful in love. They finally ended up confessing their feelings, but only after a tragedy.

Iris didn't explain the tragedy part – she said I'd have to read the book to find out – but other than that… it kinda sounded like me and Raeger.

Except we weren't in love with each other, and we were both happy in our currently relationships. Well, sort of.

I sighed and rolled over on my bed. Was I even remotely happy? Johnny hadn't called me in probably a month now, or maybe even more. I wasn't keeping track of the date anymore – I only knew it was winter because it was cold and snowy. If anyone had a birthday in winter, they wouldn't be too happy with me.

Happy… Was Raeger happy?

After the night I hid out under his sink, listening to them bicker, I honestly didn't think so.

It made my heart ache thinking about it. I liked Lillie a lot. She was pretty, smart, nice, and funny, and the few times we talked and hung out alone, I really got to know and respect her.

But I also desperately wanted Raeger to be happy. And he didn't even have to be happy with me, but if she wasn't doing what she was supposed to, then…

What was I supposed to do?

I didn't love Raeger, I knew that much. I just liked him. But regardless, if you have romantic feelings for someone, you want them to be happy, right? You're not supposed to want them to break up with their significant other just because of a petty fight.

And it wasn't that Lillie was bad for him, but…

I was better.

I jolted up in the bed. I was better. I was better for Raeger than Lillie.

Sure, I wouldn't be able to talk about life here three years ago, or empathize about cooking, or even be on the same wavelength at times. But I could guarantee that I would never make him twist his face into sadness like he did when he talked about Lillie and her new job and waiting for her. I wouldn't ever make him lie and fake happiness if I did something he didn't agree with. I wouldn't make him argue with me and get upset.

There were so many things I'd picked up that I made notes not to do, but the biggest one was that I'd be sure I didn't drive him away, like what I thought Lillie was inadvertently doing right now.

I loved Lillie, I really, really did, and I wanted my two friends' relationship to work out, but I wanted something else even more.

I wanted Raeger to feel for me what I felt for him.

If we had mutual feelings… I grinned. Everything would be great.

We'd sit and talk in the restaurant for hours upon end, just talking about stupid, mundane stuff, and then maybe I'd be the one staying over at his house.

We might have problems every now and then, but it'd be nothing in comparison to my and Jo –

Oh.

My face fell. I was still with Johnny. I'd just gotten so wrapped up in my excitement that I forgot.

…Could I really forget Johnny? Could I just bury all our memories together?

I felt sick and weak and numb all at the same time. Every time I swallowed, the lump in my throat grew bigger.

I wasn't going to cheat. I couldn't; I wouldn't, not to mention Raeger wouldn't ever take me if I still technically belonged to Johnny.

I scoffed at myself. How can someone belong to another person? What a snooty, uppity way of thinking.

I didn't belong to anybody, and I certainly didn't have any obligations to anyone, even Johnny.

I was just me. I was Annie. I was a naïve city girl who'd just moved into the countryside. I almost always suspected the worst of people, and sometimes I was hypocritical and acted on impulse.

But… that was just who I was, and I wouldn't have had it any other way.

After all, how was I going to make Raeger like me if I didn't like me?

I had to come up with a plan to get Raeger and Lillie apart without hurting either of them. Maybe I could –

Ring, ring.

That was the phone. But who could it be? Nobody ever really called me.

I got myself out of bed and over to the phone. I picked it up.

"Hello?"

There wasn't a response for a few seconds, and even then I just heard a sigh.

My breath caught in my throat. Even though there was no voice, I recognized it.

I exhaled slowly, and suddenly I found myself regretting all my earlier happier thoughts.

"Johnny."

~CGA