Easy

Chapter 1

"Well, it's not like we can be invisible whenever we're in public, Shayne! People have eyes! And it's fucking 2022, people take photos of shit," Courtney snaps, exasperated.

"So, we stop ever being in photos together then. Nothing can leak if there's no photos in the first place," Shayne offers, his voice terse as his mind desperately reaches for solutions to what seems like it's becoming a never-ending argument. It's the most routine thing in their relationship, now: they don't have date nights on Fridays like they used to, because there's too many people out then and someone could see them – they just hang out somewhere private and do nothing. He doesn't spend weekends at her place anymore, because the cat pictures on his phone were enough of a tell for everyone at work to find out. She doesn't pick him up for work so they get that extra 30 minutes together every morning because he'd got paranoid someone would see them in the same car and take pictures.

But, almost every time they see each other, they end up in almost the same argument. Part of him feels strange calling it an argument, because it's not like they're disagreeing with each other. They're fighting the same enemy and they're both on the same side in their battle to stay private.

The conversations are still terse.

"But it's not always us taking the photos and maybe we can convince family and friends to leave us out of everything but we can't control what other people do in public and people can still see us in public," she shoots back, her voice raised and tinged with anger.

Shayne watches as her brow furrows even further and tears leak slowly down her cheeks. He can feel hot tears pricking at his own eyes as white noise fills his brain, and he just wishes he could hug her and it would all be okay. But he knows – from experience – that her touchiness disappears in these moments.

It feels impossible. For every step forward in their relationship, it felt like they'd had to pull back even more – but there has to be a way. He needs there to be a way they get past this and find a solution that doesn't have them arguing every few days. The ring hidden in the back of his wardrobe, only a few feet from where they're currently standing in the middle of his apartment, says as much.

"Well, we can't be in public then so I guess we just stay home, and we don't ever be in photos together, and maybe I have to turn my phone off completely when I'm with you or something and we can make sure we're never beside each other on camera so we can't interact as much and..." he trails off, taking a deep, shaking breath as the weight of it all put into words sits heavily in his chest. He feels almost dizzy from the mixture of anger and desperation swirling through his mind, and it makes him continue, his tone quieter and softer, "why are we together, then?"

He immediately has a hundred warm, bright, affectionate answers shoot themselves into the front of his mind, and it almost calms him, until he meets her eyes and watches her step back as if someone has pushed her. She gasps softly, and her eyes turn almost empty.

"I guess... I guess there's nothing left. If we can't even be in the same place ever except at our apartments... then there really isn't a reason to be together left," she mumbles, glancing up at the ceiling.

"Wait, no-" he starts, stepping towards her, but she holds up a hand to stop him.

"No, Shayne, I get it. We need to be realistic. This was never going to work," she continues, her tone now set in certainty, although a little dark. She sniffs once, but the tears and emotion pouring out of her before seem to have stopped. She drops her hand, only to walk around him over to his apartment door. "I guess... this is it, and I should go. I'll... see you at work, I guess."

"Courtney, wait, there's-" he tries to call after her, but she opens his door and immediately steps out, letting it loudly fall closed behind her, and Shayne feels himself break and a cold, stifling emptiness immediately flood through him.