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CHAPTER 22

PETE

Pete awoke to shaking.In her sleep-addled state, her first thought was of the Cascadia Earthquake, here to take her at last. She jolted upright, confused to find that instead of a catastrophic tectonic event, it was just Izzy and Maggie jumping on her bed. Well, Danica's bed.

Danica. The one she'd been chasing without realizing it, all this time.

"Come on, get up so we can get a few runs in this morning before our flight," Izzy said.

Pete looked around, still confused. "Where's Danica?"

Maggie and Izzy both paused their quaking, looking at her like they felt sorry for her.

"Where is she?" Pete repeated, throwing her blankets off. She'd slept in her clothes last night, too afraid of leaving Danica's side, too afraid of the feelings that she’d let herself voice. She'd held Danica all night, not allowing herself to think of what daylight might bring.

Pete knew – deep down she knew exactly where Danica was, but she had to hear them say it.

"She left early," Maggie said in an exceedingly gentle voice.

Pete blinked, a resonating ache in her chest nearly stealing her breath. Why would Danica leave without talking to her? She grabbed her phone to call Danica, a shock of pain as the call went straight to voicemail.

Maggie and Izzy were watching her warily, like they were ready to comfort her, should she ask. She cleared her throat and pushed her hair out of her face. "Did she say why she left?"

Izzy shook her head. "No.” Her tone was flat, and Pete could tell she was angry.

Maggie shot Izzy a look. "It's a long drive home," she said, ever the peacekeeper.

"I think you both just need some time. Come on, let's go forget about the real world for another couple of hours," Izzy said.

Pete noticed Maggie wasn't wearing her sling and was flexing her wrist. Maggie shrugged her shoulders. "I feel fine. I'll take it easy."

Pete looked back down at her phone, at the contact she had saved for Danica. It had a picture she'd taken of her lying on the ground whining about snowboarding, and made Pete smile as she looked at it. Now, she didn’t know if she would even need Danica’s number. By leaving without a word, Danica had sent a very clear message about her priorities, and Pete obviously wasn't one of them.

Pete swallowed. “Sure, just… Give me a moment.”

A hollow space seemed to open up inside her chest, a cold draft sweeping through her body as if Danica had taken more than just her presence with her. It wasn’t the silence that stung — it was the absence of the goodbye.

She had imagined a thousand different endings, each one filled with something,anything, to acknowledge what they had shared over the last few days. But this? This was an abrupt, jagged emptiness.

She grabbed her phone as if she could call Danica, ask her what happened, demand some kind of explanation. But the words wouldn’t come. They just felt stupid, unnecessary, as if to ask would only remind her that there had never been a promise, never a guarantee.

Danica hadn’t even said goodbye. The thought dug into Pete’s skin like a splinter, sharp and painful. She had expected something more — maybe not a dramatic farewell, but a moment. A kiss. A word. A fucking explanation. Instead, the only thing she had was the heavy, oppressive quiet, the echo of her own thoughts filling the room like a distant hum.

She should be used to this. She had been waiting for this, hadn’t she? She knew better. But it felt different with Danica. There was something in the way they had talked, the way they had laughed, the way everything felt so effortlessly right between them this time.

So, why had she just… walked away?

Pete could feel the sting of something sharp gathering in her throat, a mix of confusion and hurt, but she swallowed it back. Crying wouldn’t bring Danica back.

But the ache lingered.

Her heart kept pacing in her chest, a steady drumbeat ofWhat now? What now? What now?and the answer was nothing. Nothing at all.

Her eyes drifted to the spot on the bed where they had fallen asleep together, tangled in the covers like two things that had fit perfectly into each other. The memory should’ve felt sweet, but it only hurt now, like a bruise she couldn’t stop rubbing.

The promises of the night before looped endlessly in her mind, too heavy to let go of, too sharp to ignore.

She composed herself and stood, the moment feeling so final. Maybe the wind in her face, the rush of adrenaline, and the quiet of the mountain would do her some good.