Evaline:
For a moment, none of us moved.
We just stood there, staring at Charles as he sobbed, confusion and shock written clearly on every face in my group. It wasn't the loud, dramatic kind of crying that drew attention... it was worse. Quiet. Broken. Like he had been holding everything in for far too long and something small had finally shattered the fragile wall keeping it all together.
I felt something twist painfully in my chest.
I took a slow breath, steadying myself, and stepped toward him.
"Charles," I said softly.
He flinched, as if my voice alone startled him out of his misery. He scrubbed at his eyes quickly, wiping away tears with the back of his sleeve, and shook his head.
"It's nothing," he muttered. "I'm fine."
But I knew that look.
I knew it far too well.
That hollow expression. The forced composure. The way he straightened his shoulders like standing tall could somehow erase the pain clawing at his insides.
He wasn't fine.
