Love and Destruction

~VALERIE POV~

The afternoon is perfect.

Warm sun. Gentle breeze. The kind of day that makes you believe in second chances and fresh starts and all the things that seem impossible when you're lying awake at 2:47 AM.

We walk along the lake shore, Leo running ahead to collect stones while Donovan and I maintain our careful distance. Always careful.

Always walking on eggshells around each other.

"He's