“True.”
Belle looked between us.
“How did you meet?”
Harlan and I exchanged a glance.
“You don’t remember?” I asked.
Belle frowned.
“The garage?”
“Technically.”
She thought about it.
“Rue saved me.”
Harlan’s expression softened.
“Yes.”
I shook my head.
“I kept you warm for four minutes.”
“That counts.”
“Your dad’s doctors did the important part.”
Belle hugged the rabbit.
“But you stayed.”
Three words.
Nothing more.
But you stayed.
My mother stayed when I needed her.
Eleanor stayed with the Meridian longer than anyone expected.
Mara stayed when her brother wanted to sell it.
Harlan came back when he finally understood what had been left to him.
Maybe Eleanor had been right.
Maybe communities were just people who kept choosing to stay.
Not forever.
Not blindly.
Just long enough to matter.
Belle ran toward the auditorium.
Harlan watched her go.
Then he looked at me.
“You missed a bus.”
