CAUGHT BETWEEN

ould admit. They hadn't touched-not even once-but something between them had already become delicate, alive. That morning, the skies were grey and heavy. Alina stood at the street corner, arms c

t him. "I just remembered why I stopped letting people close." Jude blinked. "Because I was late?" "No. Because people stop showing up. Or they get distracted. Or they change." He exhaled. "I'm not like that." "You say that now." The silence between them grew loud. "I like you, Jude. But I'm not built for heartbreak. I don't survive it the way you think I do." He stepped even closer, voice softer. "I don't want to hurt you." "But you might. Even if you don't mean to." She wasn't angry. Just... honest. And it scared him more than if she'd yelled. That evening, Jude sat on the rooftop of a half-finished building near his kiosk, legs dangling over the edge. He lit a cigarette, even though he hadn't smoked in months. It wasn't the first time he relapsed. The urge always came back when his emotions stirred too much-when he was anxious or feeling lost. He had quit harder things before-drugs that numbed his pain after his sister died-but the cigarette stayed. It was like a piece of his past he hadn't learned to bury yet. He exhaled smoke into the heavy night, staring at the moon. His fingers trembled slightly. His sister-Mira-used to scold him for smoking. "You want to die fast or die broke?" she'd joke, then cough violently. Tuberculosis took her, slow and unforgiving. Jude had watched her fade, powerless. He