After Maya left, Jaden spent days in silence. The apartment, once a refuge, now felt oppressive. Without her, the place felt emptier, the walls closing in.

For the first time, he let himself feel the full weight of his loneliness. It wasn’t a feeling he had sought, but it was unavoidable. He thought about the kush, about how he had used it to silence the world around him, to hide from feelings that seemed too overwhelming to face. But now, even with the kush, the silence felt louder than ever.

One afternoon, he went back to the window, the one spot in his apartment that had always given him a sense of clarity. As he looked out at the city, he realized something. The world was always in motion—never still, never waiting. And so, neither could he.