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Chapter 36: The Morning Between
Daisy
The morning sun spilled across the campus lawn in gold streaks.
She sat alone on the stone bench near the psychology building, her coffee forgotten beside her. Everything inside her still felt raw—like a page just erased but not rewritten.
Footsteps.
She didn't need to look up.
"I wasn't sure if you'd want company," Calvin said.
She shrugged, but didn't tell him to leave. "I didn't sleep."
"I figured."
He sat beside her—not touching, not crowding. Just there.
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Calvin
"Did you eat?" he asked.
"No."
He pulled a granola bar from his bag and handed it over. She took it silently.
"Thanks."
They sat in easy quiet for a while, the way only people who trust each other can.
Then Daisy spoke.
"He said he was proud of me. Before I left."
Calvin looked at her. "You believe him?"
"I want to."
"That's a good start."
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Daisy
She turned to him. "Your mom hates me, doesn't she?"
He exhaled slowly. "She doesn't know you."
"But she will?"
He looked her dead in the eyes. "If you let me walk this with you, yeah. She will."
Something in Daisy softened. For the first time, she let her head lean gently on his shoulder.
Not everything was fixed.
But this—this felt like hope.
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