The Space Between us

6

Chapter Six: Beneath the Surface

The afternoon sun began to dip lower, casting a warm golden hue across the park. The air had a cool edge to it, the kind that signaled the nearing change of seasons, but it was still comforting in its own way. The peaceful atmosphere wrapped around Eden like a soft blanket, making her feel a little less alone. She could hear the faint chirp of birds in the distance, the rustling of leaves stirred by a gentle breeze. It was quiet here, just the kind of quiet she needed.

She sat cross-legged beneath the shade of the oak tree, her book open in front of her, but her eyes weren't focused on the pages. They kept drifting to Josh, who had casually settled onto the ground beside her. He didn't seem to mind the silence, and for some reason, that made Eden feel even more at ease. It was as if he understood the quiet was enough; there was no need for small talk or forced conversation. He didn't need her to be anything other than what she was. And, for once, that felt like a relief.

Josh had shifted his position, leaning back on his hands and looking up at the sky. "It's kind of perfect here, isn't it?" he said after a while, his voice soft, like he wasn't sure if he should be speaking or not.

Eden glanced up at the sky too, the deep blue fading into shades of orange and pink. "Yeah, it's peaceful." She smiled faintly, a small, fleeting smile, but it felt real. She hadn't smiled like this in a while. Not genuinely. "I come here when... I need a break. A place to breathe."

Josh tilted his head in her direction. "I get that," he said, his voice low. "I do the same thing. I come here to think, to escape from all the chaos." He paused, looking away for a moment, as if the words he was about to say weren't easy to share. "Sometimes, everything just feels like it's crashing down, you know?"

Eden was surprised by how easily he spoke about it. Most people, including herself, avoided talking about what weighed them down, choosing instead to hide it behind a mask of indifference or even anger. But there was something about Josh-something in the way he looked at her, like he saw past the surface, past the walls she'd carefully built around herself. And it made her want to tell him the truth, to say the things she couldn't admit even to herself.

"I know what you mean," Eden said quietly, her eyes fixed on the cover of her book. "It's like... sometimes it feels like I'm drowning, but no one really notices. Everyone's too busy with their own stuff to even realize I'm barely keeping my head above water." She swallowed, unsure why she had said that. But there was something in Josh's eyes that made it easier, like he was really listening, really hearing her.

Josh nodded slowly, his expression soft. "Yeah. I get that a lot too. It's like no one really cares, or if they do, they don't know how to help." He let out a small, bitter laugh. "My family's kind of... complicated, too. My mom's always stressed about work, and my dad-well, he's always around, but he's never really present, you know?"

Eden could hear the quiet pain in his voice, and it made her want to reach out to him, to tell him he wasn't alone, but she didn't know how. Words felt so heavy sometimes, so difficult to say. But the silence between them was comfortable, not suffocating. It wasn't like the silence at home, the kind that felt cold and hollow. This was different. Here, it was okay to just be quiet.

"I get it," she said softly, her gaze still on the pages of her book, but her mind was far from the words printed there. "It's... it's hard when the people who are supposed to be there for you just aren't, in the ways you need them to be."

Josh shifted, pulling his knees up to his chest, and for a moment, there was a pause. Then he spoke again, his voice softer than before. "I lost someone important, too. My brother-he passed away a few years ago." He let out a long breath, and Eden could see the way his jaw tightened, the way his eyes seemed to darken at the mention of it. "He was the one person I could count on. The one who really got me."

Eden turned her head to look at him then, surprised. She hadn't expected him to share something so personal, something so raw. The vulnerability in his words made her feel something she hadn't felt in a long time-connection.

"I'm sorry," she said quietly. "I didn't know."

Josh shrugged, but there was a sadness behind his eyes. "It's been a few years now. But it still hurts, you know? Sometimes, I just want to scream, just to let it out. But I don't know how to." He chuckled weakly. "I guess that's why I come here so much. It's the only place I can be by myself and just think about everything without it all feeling too... much."

Eden nodded slowly, her fingers tracing the edges of her book, her thoughts swirling around in her mind. She had never lost a sibling, but the pain of losing someone-especially someone you were close to-was something she understood. The emptiness that lingered, the way your whole world changed with one phone call, one piece of bad news.

"I get that," she said quietly. "It's like a hole you can never really fill. No matter what you do or how much time passes, it's always there." She paused, her voice dropping lower. "I lost my dad when I was younger. And... my grandpa, too." Her throat tightened, but she didn't look away from Josh. She needed him to know. "Sometimes, it feels like I'm just stuck in the past, like I'm still mourning them, even though I'm supposed to have moved on."

Josh's gaze softened as he looked at her, and for a moment, he didn't say anything. The weight of her words hung in the air between them, but it wasn't awkward. It wasn't uncomfortable. It was... shared. Like they were both carrying the same weight, and that somehow made it easier to bear.

"I'm sorry," Josh said softly, his voice sincere. "I know how hard it is to keep moving forward when you don't know how to let go."

Eden's heart ached at the simple truth of his words, and for the first time in what felt like forever, she allowed herself to lean into the quiet of the moment. No pretenses, no walls. Just two people sitting under a tree, understanding each other without needing to say anything else.

The sun dipped lower, casting long shadows across the park as the evening began to settle in. It wasn't quite dark yet, but the sky was changing, the colors softening into twilight.

"I think I'm starting to understand what you mean about escaping," Eden said quietly, breaking the silence after a while. "I feel like when I'm here, I can just... breathe. It's like the world stops for a little while."

Josh looked at her, a small smile tugging at his lips. "Exactly. It's like you can finally be yourself, even if it's just for a few hours."

Eden smiled back, something genuine flickering in her chest. For the first time in a long time, she didn't feel so alone. She wasn't sure what it was, exactly-the way Josh seemed to understand her, or maybe it was just the comfort of sharing something real with someone else.

"Thanks for talking to me," she said quietly, the words feeling more like a relief than anything else. "I don't usually... talk like this."

Josh shrugged, his smile softening. "No need to thank me. I get it. I'm glad you did."

Eden paused for a moment, her eyes meeting his, and for the first time in ages, she felt a small spark of hope. It was fleeting, but it was enough.

Maybe, just maybe, things didn't have to be so heavy all the time.