Nicholas’s POV
I tell myself I’m only going to look.
Just once more time for me to see her from a distance.
Just to prove to myself that she’s really okay, that the stitches are healing, that the nightmare I didn’t cause hasn’t left any permanent mark on her small face.
That’s what I repeat in my head while I sit in the car across from the playground after school lets out three days later.
I’m parked two blocks away, hood up, windows cracked just enough to hear children shouting. I don’t plan to get out. I don’t plan to speak to anyone. I just need to see her run, see her laugh, see proof that the world didn’t break her.
But then I see her.
Aria is on the lower monkey bars, swinging her legs, ponytail bouncing.
Sparkle is stuffed into the side pocket of her backpack, one floppy e
