#carolineweav

The knock came just after 8am—gentle, deliberate, like the person on the other side wasn’t totally sure this was a good idea but had already committed.

Adri stood on the porch in jeans and a cropped hoodie layered under a denim jacket, her hair pulled back in a loose, half-hearted braid. She had a coffee tray in one hand, a bakery bag in the other, and a tight little smile that didn’t quite reach her tired eyes.

When Caroline opened the door, Adri offered the muffins like a peace offering. “I know it’s early. I swear I almost turned around twice. But then I didn’t. So… hi.” Almost an anxious movement, she jiggled the cup of iced coffee in her other hand.

She stepped inside with a quiet kind of familiarity, pausing to toe off her sneakers and tuck her hair behind her ear. “I couldn’t sleep,” she said simply. “Didn’t feel like being alone.” It’d been a late night at the bar, and she was a little worried she still smelled like stale beer and the stench of one of the creepy men benny would probably task himself with fighting at some point in her honor.

alexander was trying to pick out some books to read for himself. he had read way too many children's books and even though sebastian could hear the same books every night, alex needed something that was stimulating to his brain. he was walking through the fiction section and he had a medical magazine in his hand that he had picked up before. he was about to reach out for. a book, but then saw someone was reaching out for it too. "oh, sorry. you go ahead!"