𝑀𝐴𝐺𝑀𝐴 | 𝐉𝐀𝐈𝐌𝐄 𝐑𝐄𝐘𝐄𝐒

𝟐𝟏 | 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐎𝐅 𝐋𝐎𝐒𝐒

・𝐑𝐄𝐈𝐍𝐀・

"𝐇𝐄𝐋𝐋𝐎?"

"Hey, Rein. I'm not interrupting anything, am I?"

"No, you're good. What's up?"

"I . . . Okay, this might sound stupid, but I've just gotten so used to saying goodnight to you every night that it felt weird not to. So . . . goodnight."

"Goodnight, Jaime."

"You okay? You sound—"

"I'm fine. We're just watching a sad movie."

"Got it. And, uh, Rein?"

"Yeah?"

"About last night . . . I just—"

"Don't worry about it, Jaime. Seriously. It's fine."

"If you say so."

"Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

Reina turned her phone off and slipped it back into her pocket.

She clutched the cold metal chain of the swing that she had been swaying back and forth on for the past hour. The cool air of the night made the tear stains on her cheeks sting a little.

She sighed and dug her feet into the mulch. She couldn't stay here forever.

Still, she found herself unable to move. Her body was clinging to the childhood playground she had spent the last hour swinging in, and as much as she chided herself that she had a long drive ahead of her, it felt impossible to leave.

For a town that was so full of terrible reminders for her, this playground was one of the few places that harboured good memories. Her coaxing Henry through the twisty slide, the day she had finally been able to swing high enough to make her stomach churn, climbing the monkey bars and nearly falling off every time . . . At least, she had those.

The chain links dug into her palm as she clenched her fist. She should go.

Getting to her feet, she kept her eyes away from the petals that were peeking out of the garbage at the edge of the park. The dim light of the streetlamps guided her back to her car. The rock music she had been listening to before came back on as soon as she turned the key in the ignition.

It was already eleven. Assuming everything went okay, she'd be back in Palmera City around three AM.

But she couldn't go back to Jaime's house. How suspicious would it be for her to show up in the middle of the night? As heavy of a sleeper as Rudy was, there was no way she could get settled in Milagro's room without waking her up. And how was she supposed to explain to everyone else what she was doing there in the morning?

There really only was one solution: park in the cafe parking lot and just sleep there. She had the opening shift, anyway, and since she had brought all her toiletries for the 'sleepover,' she could just get ready in the bathroom.

Her grip on the steering wheel was tight. This night had not gone the way she had wanted it to. At all.

She didn't want to think about it. She tried to busy her mind with more plans—what she was going to do after work, what latte she was going to make herself in the morning—but as she came to a stop at an empty red light, her father's voice flooded her mind.

"You shouldn't be here. You need to leave. Now."

She squeezed her eyes shut, and in that moment, she was glad that the streets were pretty empty, despite it not being that late.