Page 9 of When the Sky Falls

I am a mess of drama and hormones, and the sooner I get out of this emotional echo chamber of a house, the better.

“You don’t have to do this,” Reese pleads from behind me, her voice cracking like dry ice under pressure. “Please, Mya. Don’t go.”

I freeze. Mid-pack. One hand tangled in a heap of black leggings that haven’t fit me since week seven. My chest clenches like someone’s reached in and twisted my lungs into balloon animals.

“I do, Reese.” My voice is flat. Final. I don’t even look at her.

In the hallway, chaos unfurls—Fletch barking something at Carson, who snaps back with venom. Benji throws fuel on the fire while Thorin plays human barricade. Again. Always.

“This place?” I gesture vaguely, like that’ll capture the insanity. “It’s not a home. It’s a warzone with throw pillows.”

She steps closer, eyes glossy and guilt-ridden. “But we’re your people.”

“And that’s why I’m leaving.”

The silence between us stretches so taut it could snap. I turn and meet her gaze. She looks heartbroken. Hopeful. Beautiful in that effortless Reese kind of way. All sunshine and soft sadness.

“I’m not doing this for me,” I murmur, resting a palm over my somewhat still-flat stomach. “I’m doing it for them.”

Boom.

Door slam.

Boom.

The walls shake. So do I.

“These babies deserve quiet. Not angry men yelling like frat boys in a cage match.” My eyes sting. My grip tightens on the suitcase handle. “I’m tapped out, Reese. I’m trying to protect what’s left of me before there’s nothing left at all.”

She wraps her arms around me from behind, like she’s thirteen again and I’m the only one who got her. “I’ll miss you.”

“I’m not disappearing,” I say, even though it kind of feels like I am. “I’m just… exiting the toxic group chat that is this house.”

She pulls back, swiping a tear with the sleeve of her sweater. “Where are you even going?”

“New York.”

Her brows pinch. “Where exactly in New York are you even staying?”

I shift my weight, the truth tasting both ridiculous and surreal on my tongue. “A penthouse.”

Reese blinks. “A what now?”

“Yeah.” I nod once. “My dad arranged it.”

Voices build again outside the bedroom. Carson yells. Glass shatters.

Reese flinches. I do, too.

“I’ll come back,” I promise. “I just need some damn peace first.”

A beat.

Then another.

She lets me go.

And that’s when I know I have to.