Thunderous Silence

“Can we please talk?”

Lyra didn’t answer right away.

She searched his face, her breath hitching—caught between the urgency in his eyes and the warmth of his hand still anchored to hers. Not tight. Not demanding. Just there.

The hallway beyond them hummed softly with movement—chairs scraping, distant voices blending into polite laughter—but right here, time felt suspended.

Grounding.

“Please,