It was the briefest of joys

Friendship, something weightless yet carried forever - like a heart beat. Always there, beneath the surface, doing everything in our power to keep each other going, to make life work. There is so much love in friendship, possibly more than any other embodiment, yet all four of us are silent. There is so much my heart can't tell you. They say trauma affects not only the brain, but the body too - it's joints and posture. It's muscles. My heart has been affected, and so has yours. That's why we found each other. Our hearts, we've known each other lifetimes.

~~~~~

Adelah (Del) Ansari moves away with her childhood best friend, Alannah, into a new city to chase their career goals. Only, her real motive was to leave behind a heartbreaking past. As time goes on and they adjust to their new life, old stories seep through as she realizes pain isn't something to be escaped from, but dealt with.

On the outside, she's accomplished, beautiful, kind and daring. Beneath that, she's failing to breathe, scared and lonely. All she has is the unkind memory of her younger self. New friendships and love opportunities come her way, but something holds her back. She is a lion trapped in a cage, and the key is around her own neck.

Meanwhile, Alannah delves into an uncanny friendship with Zed Fahari. She is soft, full of love but reserved, he's unpredictable and reckless, seldom stuck in a life of danger and sorrow. They form a quick attachment, along with Zed's roommate Isaiah, becoming each-others go-to friends. But when Zed's plans for a future do not align with Adelah, Alaanah is left trying to heal both her best friends hearts.

Isaiah, and his childlike nature, is the light that uplifts them all and brings them together; the dining table in an empty house. But if Adelah knows anything, it is that children are often the main victims of wars. They cry the most, they hide.

5 amazing friendships, 2 possible love stories, a dozen heartbreaks. And memories that haunt forever