Ava
She should have gone inside.
She knew that. Some rational part of her had been saying it for the last ten minutes, had been watching these two men circle each other in the dark and noting with detached clarity that nothing productive was happening and the cold was getting worse and she had already been given more tonight than she knew what to do with.
She stayed anyway.
Partly because they were talking about her.
Partly because she didn't trust either of them to stop if she wasn't there to witness it.
And partly because of the thing that had started in her chest during Jason's explanation and hadn't stopped since. That low persistent stirring. Like something turning over slowly in deep water, feeling its way toward the surface without quite breaking it.
She stood with her arms crossed and watched her husband and her father try to dismantle each other with their voices and told herself she was fine.
