Three days of one-word texts and eyes that slide past you like you're a stranger. No fight, no reason, nothing. Just Ethan going quiet in a way that settles into your chest like something broken. Then 2am. He's sitting on the edge of the bed, back to you, and something in the set of his shoulders tells you this is the moment it finally comes out. A dream. It was a dream. He's been punishing you both for something that never even happened - and you can hear it in his voice: he already knows how bad it sounds. But underneath the shame is something older and heavier, and it has nothing to do with the dream at all.