Back at home, the silence was suffocating. I found myself in Noah’s room, staring at his bed. His favorite blanket was crumpled in the corner, and his toys were scattered like he had just been playing with them. Everything was still, too still, as if the house itself knew what had happened.
I sank to the floor, clutching his blanket to my chest. The pain was so deep, I could barely breathe. My heart felt like it had been ripped out and stomped on. “Why did you leave me?” I whispered, tears streaming down my face. “Why did you have to go?”
I don’t know how long I sat there, lost in my grief, when I heard the front door open. Damon was home. I wiped my face quickly, trying to pull myself together, but it didn’t matter. The ache in my chest was still there, gnawing at me.
He walked past Noah’s room without a glance, without a word. Just like that, like I didn’t exist. Like our son didn’t exist. The anger that had been simmering beneath my sadness bubbled up. He hadn’t been there when Noah and I needed him, and now he was acting like nothing had happened.
I stood up and followed him to our bedroom. He was taking off his jacket, acting casual, like this was any other day. Something about the way he moved so easily while my world was shattered made my blood boil.
“Damon,” I said, my voice shaking with a mix of sadness and anger.
He barely looked at me. “What is it, Luna?”
"What is it?" His words hit me like a slap. I wanted to scream, to demand how he could be so cold, but something else caught my attention. There was a scent on him—faint, but familiar. It wasn’t mine. It was hers.
I stepped closer, my heart pounding. “Why... Why do you smell like Leah?”
Damon froze for just a second, then shrugged like it was nothing. “What are you talking about?”
“I can smell her on you, Damon,” I said, my voice low but sharp. “Why do you smell like my sister!?”
He didn’t meet my eyes, and that was all the answer I needed. “We were together earlier,” he said, still too calm. “She needed someone to talk to after the funeral. What else could it be?”
I blinked, barely able to process what I was hearing. “You left me, Damon. You left me and Noah, and now you’re spending time with her?”
“Luna, don’t start this,” he muttered, turning away from me. “I’ve had a long day.”