Chapter 636: She Opens Up (1)

For a long while, neither of Ariana nor Sheila said a word.

The silence in the room settled into something heavy but not entirely uncomfortable. It was the kind of quiet that came when two people shared the same space but weren’t yet ready to disturb the fragile balance of the moment.

Ariana sat with the glass of water resting loosely between her hands, her fingers wrapped gently around the cool surface. She hadn’t taken a sip yet. Instead, her eyes drifted slowly around the room, taking in small details she had never really noticed before during her countless visits here.

The room felt… different today.

Not physically. Everything was where it always had been. Sheila’s neatly arranged desk, the small stack of books near the wall, the folded blanket resting near the foot of her bed. Yet the air in the room carried a certain stillness that hadn’t been there before, like the space itself had been holding its breath for hours.

Across from her, Sheila remained seated on the edge of the bed.

Her posture was slightly hunched forward, her hands loosely clasped together as her gaze remained fixed somewhere near the floor. Occasionally she shifted slightly, her fingers rubbing faintly against each other as though she wasn’t even aware she was doing it.

Neither of them rushed the moment, letting the quiet stretched on.

Eventually, Ariana lifted the glass of water and took a small sip, the faint sound of the movement briefly breaking the silence before it settled again.

She lowered the glass slowly.

Then, after another few seconds passed, she spoke.

“You know… it’s strange.” She said in a soft tone.

Sheila didn’t immediately look up, but her eyes flickered slightly in Ariana’s direction, signaling that she was listening.

Ariana let her gaze wander toward the half-covered window where thin strands of sunlight slipped into the room.

“I’ve been in this room so many times,” she said quietly. “But it feels different today.”

Sheila shifted slightly on the bed, though she still didn’t look directly at Ariana.

“It’s probably just messy,” she said after a moment.

Her voice was calm, but there was a faint roughness beneath it that hadn’t been there before.

Ariana gently shook her head.

“No,” she said softly. “Not messy.”

She paused, searching for the right words.

“It’s just … quiet.”

That seemed to reach Sheila. For the first time since Ariana had entered the room, Sheila slowly lifted her gaze. Her eyes met Ariana’s for a brief moment before drifting away again.

“I guess I didn’t feel like opening the curtains,” Sheila said quietly.

Ariana followed her gaze toward the window again.

“That’s okay,” she replied gently.

The silence returned, though it felt slightly different now. Not as heavy as before, but still careful.

Ariana turned the glass slowly in her hands and after a moment, she spoke again.

“You didn’t sleep much, did you?”

Sheila let out a faint breath through her nose.

“Was it that obvious?”

Ariana gave a small, sympathetic smile.

“A little.”

Sheila looked down again, one of her hands rising to brush faintly against the side of her face as though suddenly aware of how tired she must look.

“I just… had a lot on my mind,” she said quietly.

Ariana didn’t respond immediately.

Instead, she nodded slightly, as if acknowledging the weight of those words without pushing further.

A few more seconds passed.

Then Ariana spoke again, her tone still gentle.

“You know…” She hesitated slightly, as though unsure if she should say the next part. “…Dylan told me something earlier.”

That seemed to catch Sheila’s attention a little. Her gaze lifted again, this time resting on Ariana more directly.

“What did he say?”

Ariana shifted slightly in her chair.

“He told me that when you two were younger… whenever something bothered you, you always got really quiet like this first.”

Sheila stared at her for a moment. Then, slowly, the faintest hint of a smile appeared on her lips.

“Did he really say that?”

“He did,” Ariana replied with a soft smile of her own.

Sheila looked down again, her fingers lightly rubbing against the edge of the mattress beside her.

“That sounds like Dylan,” she murmured.

Her voice carried a strange mixture of fondness and exhaustion.

“He used to say that all the time,” she added quietly.

Ariana tilted her head slightly.

“Say what?”

Sheila let out a quiet breath.

“That when I get quiet like this… it means my head is too full.” She paused. “And that eventually… I’ll start talking once I can figure out where to begin.”

Her eyes remained fixed on the floor.

Ariana didn’t interrupt. She simply waited.

A few seconds passed before Sheila spoke again.

“He always hated waiting though,” she said faintly.

That earned a small chuckle from Ariana.

“That sounds like Dylan too.”

For a brief moment, the tension in the room softened.

But it didn’t last long.

Sheila’s fingers tightened slightly against the fabric of the bed as the small smile faded from her face.

The quiet returned again.

This time, however, it felt less like a barrier and more like a space slowly opening.

Sheila leaned forward slightly, resting her elbows on her knees as she stared at the floor.

“Did he send you here?”

The question came quietly.

Ariana blinked slightly.

“Dylan?”

Sheila nodded faintly.

Ariana shook her head.

“No.”

Another small pause.

Then Ariana added honestly,

“I came because I wanted to.”

Sheila didn’t respond right away.

Her shoulders rose and fell slowly as she drew in a breath, then she spoke again.

“…You don’t have to stay, you know.”

Ariana looked at her gently.

“I know.”

More silence passed.

Sheila’s fingers curled slightly together as if she were trying to organize thoughts that refused to line up properly.

Then, almost absentmindedly, she said something that sounded more like a thought than a statement.

“…Percy used to say the same thing Dylan did.”

Ariana didn’t move or speak, but her attention sharpened instantly.

Sheila seemed to realize what she had just said a moment later and er fingers stilled.

For a few seconds after the words left Sheila’s mouth, neither of them moved.

The room seemed to fall into an even deeper stillness than before, as though the air itself had paused to acknowledge what had just been said. Ariana remained seated in the chair, the glass of water resting quietly in her hands, while Sheila sat on the edge of her bed with one hand still pressed lightly against her forehead.

“…That I get quiet when I’m trying not to break.”

The words lingered between them.

Ariana didn’t rush to respond.

Instead, she simply watched Sheila for a moment. Not in a way that felt invasive or expectant, but in the quiet, patient way someone watches a friend who is struggling to hold themselves together.

Across the room, Sheila slowly lowered her hand from her forehead.

Her fingers dragged faintly across her temple as they fell back into her lap, and for a moment she just sat there staring at the floor again, as though she regretted letting the words slip out.

The faint light from the window brushed across the side of her face, catching the redness around her eyes and the faint dark circles beneath them.

Ariana set the glass of water down on the small table beside her chair.

The soft clink of glass against wood was the only sound in the room.

Then she leaned forward slightly, resting her hands loosely together between her knees.

Her voice, when she finally spoke, was quiet.

“You don’t have to hold it together in front of me.”

The words were simple. There was no urgency in them. No pressure. Just a calm, steady sincerity.

Sheila’s shoulders shifted slightly at that and for a moment she didn’t look up.

Then she let out a faint breath through her nose.

“I thought I was doing a pretty good job hiding it,” she murmured with the faintest trace of dry humor in her voice which faded almost immediately.

Ariana tilted her head a little.

“You were,” she said gently.

Sheila glanced up at that, their eyes met briefly.

Then Ariana added softly,

“But you also look like someone who hasn’t slept all night trying to pretend everything is fine.”

Sheila held her gaze for a moment longer before looking away again.

Her fingers began rubbing faintly against each other again, the motion small and restless.

“I didn’t sleep,” she admitted quietly.

Another pause followed.

Then she added, “Every time I closed my eyes… I just kept replaying everything he said.”

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