Chapter 80

• Sophia's eyes are brimming with tears, and her body hurts all over, so she shifts awkwardly, clenching her fingers to stop her hands from trembling. Not because it's a weapon against her, but because the Sophia of then needed Leon to say these things, these healing words, and mean them long before she got into his stupid car. If he had only stopped the war between them and embraced her, she might never have gone. They might have lived a happier two years and salvaged something.
• "You don't mean it. You just need time...to have closure now you know she's not dead, bec..."
• "Stop it!" Leon exhales with his words, so they lack conviction, seemingly tired of this, and she finally allows herself to look up at him again. She guesses he has had this conversation many times over the last two years. Exhausted and fed up with it. His eyes are on her, so solidly as though he hasn't once looked away. Unwavering, locked in place as though he's gaining strength to keep him focused on what he's doing, and Sophia's face flushes with heat at making eye contact. He's been watching her every reaction to his words for hints of her hidden feelings, and there's a sense of peace in his eyes as though he saw what he needed to. She glances away, catching Celine's expression.