Chapter Five

Kieran

I wasn’t expecting a knock that night. Most nights were the same: a bit of noise through the walls, a bit of silence I didn’t mind. Then the door went. Once.

Then again. Not urgent. Not lost. Unsure.

I opened it without thinking too hard. And there she was. Rhett Weston’s sister. Raelynn. Not that I’d met her before, I could see the resemblance. I knew her name before I properly processed her face, which is usually a sign your life is about to become someone else’s problem.

“Hi,” she said. Short and controlled. But something about her posture told a different story. Like she had been holding herself together for a long time and was now doing it out of habit rather than strength.

“Raelynn?” I asked, just to confirm I wasn’t misplacing reality.

She nodded.

“Rhett’s not home.”

That sentence didn’t fit neatly into anything my brain had prepared for the evening. I blinked once. Then again.

“He’s not home?”

“Yes.”

There was a pause after that where I considered several possibilities. One, she was joking. Two, Rhett was involved. Three the universe was bored. I settled on none of them.

“You’re his sister,” I said, mostly to ground the situation.

“I am aware,” she replied.

That made me almost smile. Almost.

I stepped aside. “Come in.”

She hesitated for half a second before entering, like she was checking whether the floor might change its mind about supporting her. It didn’t.

My apartment always felt quieter than it should’ve. Not empty. Just… neutral. A place that didn’t demand anything from anyone who walked into it. She looked around once, slowly. Then stopped near the couch. I noticed immediately she wasn’t fully here. Like her mind had wondered off.

“I can call Rhett,” I said, already reaching for my phone.

“Don’t.” The word came out too fast. I looked up at her. She corrected herself almost immediately.

“I mean… he’s not answering.”

Right. That explained enough. I nodded and put my phone down.

“Okay.”

Silence followed. I pointed lightly toward the couch. “Sit.”

She did. Carefully. Like she wasn’t sure she was allowed to take up space. I stayed standing for a moment longer than necessary before sitting opposite her. Not too close. Not distant either. Just… balanced.

“I’m Kieran,” I said eventually, even though I knew she already knew.

“I know,” she said.

That was the second time she’d done that tonight. Each time it sounded like she was trying to hold onto something stable. Then she added, almost reluctantly, “Rhett mentioned you.”

Of course he did. Rhett mentioned everyone. Usually in ways that made them sound either like disasters or miracles depending on the week.

“Right,” I said.

She looked exhausted. That specific kind of exhaustion where nothing is dramatic enough to explain it, but everything feels heavier anyway.

“You look like you’ve had a long night,” I said.

That earned a faint exhale from her. Not quite a laugh.

“Something like that.”

I didn’t ask. Asking felt wrong. So I didn’t. Instead, I leaned back and let the silence settle again.

Most people panic in silence. They talk. They fidget. They try to patch it over. But this silence didn’t feel like a gap that needed fixing. It felt… settled. She didn’t speak again for a while. Neither did I.

Time passed in a way that didn’t ask for attention.

At some point I noticed her shoulders had loosened slightly. Less guarded. Less sharp around the edges. Her breathing had changed as well. Slower. Heavier. She was slipping into sleep. Not fully unconscious yet. Just that halfway state where the body gives up before the mind does.

Her head tilted slightly toward the armrest. Then stopped. Then tried again. Eventually she stopped fighting it. Her eyes closed. Still not fully gone. Just suspended.

I watched for a moment to make sure she wasn’t actually uncomfortable. She wasn’t. Then her phone buzzed. Once. On the table. I looked at it. ‘Boss baby’ Had to be Rhett. Of course. It rang again. She didn’t move. Didn’t hear it. I exhaled quietly and picked it up.

“Yeah?” I answered.

There was immediate noise on the other end.

Rhett.

“What do you mean ‘yeah’? Where is she?”

“She’s here,” I said.

A pause.

“What do you mean she’s there?”

“She said you weren’t home.”

Another pause. Longer this time.

“Is she okay?”

I glanced at her. Still asleep.

“Yeah,” I said. “She fell asleep.”

That part made his voice shift.

“Wait—she’s asleep?”

“I just said that.”

A sound that was half frustration, half relief.

“Don’t move her,” he said quickly. “I’m coming over.”

“I wasn’t planning to.”

He hung up. I set the phone down, then looked back at her. She hadn’t moved at all. Same position. Same quiet breathing. And for some reason I couldn’t quite name, I stayed exactly where I was. Waiting. Not for anything specific. Just… in case.

I sat occasionally looking at my phone to check the time and looking at her. She looked less disturbed. Not that she had told me she was but she looked comfortable and peaceful compared to how she looked when she got here.

I couldn’t help but feel slightly envious. I doubt I could sleep like her. Especially not in the presence of someone I barely knew. I wondered how she trusted me or let herself sleep. But judging by how tired she looked, she couldn’t win against a battle of sleep even if she wanted to.

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