Aira used to wait for the moment things would go wrong.
Not consciously.
But habitually.
If something felt steady for too long, she'd start scanning it for flaws.
A delayed reply.
A distracted tone.
A shift in energy.
Anything that could explain why it wouldn't last.
That afternoon, she caught herself doing it again.
Reyhan had been quieter than usual. Busy. Focused. Half-lost in some work call.
He wasn't distant.
Just occupied.
And yet her mind started building small cracks.
Maybe he's pulling back.
Maybe this is where it changes.
She hated that voice.
When he finally ended the call, he looked at her immediately.
"Sorry," he said. "I know I zoned out."
She shrugged lightly. "It's fine."
But it wasn't about the call.
He noticed.
"You're thinking," he said.
She exhaled slowly. "Do you ever feel like something's too good?"
He tilted his head. "That sounds like a trap question."
She almost smiled.
"I'm serious."
He leaned back slightly, studying her face.
"You're waiting for it to crack," he said quietly.
The accuracy of it stung.
"I don't want to," she admitted.
"But I don't know how to stop."
Reyhan didn't dismiss her.
Didn't tell her she was overthinking.
He just moved closer.
"You don't have to search for problems to prepare for them," he said gently.
"I don't want to be blindsided."
"You won't be."
"How do you know?"
"Because I won't disappear without telling you," he replied simply.
It wasn't dramatic reassurance.
It wasn't a forever promise.
It was just clarity.
"I'm not perfect," he continued.
"And this isn't perfect. But it's honest."
That word again.
Honest.
Aira realized something then.
She wasn't scared of cracks.
She was scared of silence.
Of things breaking without warning.
Reyhan wasn't silent.
Even when he was busy.
Even when he was tired.
He still showed up.
"You don't have to inspect us like we're fragile," he added softly.
She looked at him carefully.
"We're not fragile?"
"No," he said.
"We're growing."
And growth didn't mean cracks.
It meant adjustment.
That evening, when she opened her notebook, she didn't write out of anxiety.
She wrote out of release.
RULE #95: Don't look for cracks in something that's whole.
Not everything that feels steady
is about to break.