Kira stayed quiet on her side of the door. Derek stood in the corridor and listened, straining for any sound at all. What he got was silence so complete it pressed back against him.
He knocked again, harder this time. "Kira. Open the door."
Nothing.
"Please." The word came out with more effort than he'd expected. "It's me. Open the door."
"I know who it is," she said, from somewhere close on the other side. Her voice was low and flat. "Go away."
Leo whined deep inside Derek's chest at the quiet sorrow threading through her words. Her voice caught him off guard. He had never heard her sound so small.
"Just let me in. I'm sorry, alright? I'm sorry."
"Goodnight, Derek."
"Kira." He pressed his palm flat against the door. "I'm not leaving until you open this door."
He felt that if he could just get into that room, if he could just see her, he could fix this.
She didn't answer.
