CLAIRE
Julian was quiet for a moment, his gaze focused on the water.
"Because I know what it's like to grieve alone," he said finally. "And I wouldn't wish that on anyone, especially not you."
I turned to look at him, surprised by the raw honesty in his voice.
"Your mother?" I asked gently.
Julian nodded.
"When she died, everyone in the family acted like it was just an unfortunate event," he said, his voice tight. "Like we should all just move on and not make a fuss. No one wanted to talk about it or acknowledge that it hurt."
"That's terrible," I said softly.
"It was," Julian agreed. "So I learned to grieve alone, to hide it and pretend everything was fine even when it wasn't."
He turned to look at me, his gray eyes serious.
"I don't want you to do that," he said. "I don't want
