even when it hurts

**Description:**
Emery's life has always felt heavy-weighted by shadows of depression, mornings that never seem to start, and nights spent clinging to the quiet safety of her "little space." To the outside world, she's just another college girl trying to hold it together. But inside, she's fraying at the edges.

Then there's Liam. Gentle, persistent, and the only person who looks at Emery like she isn't broken. He doesn't see her as a burden-he sees her as *herself*. But letting him in means showing him the parts of her she hides: the softness, the vulnerability, the secret world she escapes to when everything feels too much.

Can Emery trust someone else with her fragile heart? Or will the weight of her silence push him away before love has the chance to grow?

A story about shadows and light, broken pieces and soft spaces-and the kind of love that doesn't try to fix you, only holds you while you heal.