For a moment, neither of them spoke. The silence stretched, thick with everything that had been left unsaid.
“Hey,” Victoria said quietly.
Isabel’s breath caught. “Hey.”
Isabel leaned against the doorframe, her pulse still hammering in her ears.
Victoria stood on the threshold holding a white paper bag that smelled faintly of noodles and soy sauce. It was such an ordinary sight that Isabel almost laughed. After everything they’d been through, Victoria Langley was standing at her door with takeout.
“I brought dinner,” Victoria said quietly. Her voice was low, careful—as if she wasn’t sure if she had the right to be there.
Isabel crossed her arms, trying to hide the tremor in her hands. “You came all the way here…with food?”
Victoria’s mouth twitched in a tired almost-smile. “Didn’t know what else to bring.”
For a beat, neither moved. Isabel wanted to tell her to leave, to protect what was left of her heart—but instead, she stepped aside. “Come in.”
Victoria entered, the faint scent of rain following her. She set the bag on the counter and looked around at the half-packed boxes. Her eyes softened, and for once, she didn’t try to hide it.
“You’re really leaving,” she said quietly.
“Seemed like the right call.”
“Does it still?”
Isabel’s jaw clenched. “I don’t know.”
Victoria hesitated, then took a small step closer. “I owe you an apology,” she said. “For doubting you. For not standing by you when I should have. I told myself I was doing the right thing—being objective, protecting the department—but really, I was just protecting myself.”
Isabel let out a humorless laugh. “You don’t say.”
“I deserved that.”
The quiet stretched between them again, not quite hostile but heavy all the same. Isabel studied her—this woman who always looked so put-together, so impossible to shake. But now she looked…tired. Human.
“Why are you here, Victoria?” Isabel asked, her voice small. “Because I can’t go through another version of you changing your mind.”
Victoria’s shoulders lifted and fell in a deep breath. “I don’t want to change my mind this time.”
Isabel shook her head. “You say that now, but when things get complicated again, you’ll shut me out. You’ll lock everything behind those walls of yours and tell yourself it’s for the best.”
Victoria took another step forward, her voice steady but soft. “You’re right. That’s what I do. It’s what I’ve always done. But this time…” She hesitated, and the silence that followed was almost painful. “This time I can’t seem to make myself let go.”
Isabel’s throat tightened. “You hurt me,” she whispered. “You don’t get to act like that didn’t happen.”
“I know.”
“I don’t know if I can survive another heartbreak like that, Vic. I really don’t.”
Something in Victoria’s expression cracked. She reached up slowly, like she was afraid Isabel might pull away, and brushed her fingers against Isabel’s wrist. “I don’t want to hurt you,” she said. “I just…I don’t know how to do this, but I know I don’t want to lose you. We have somethingreal. I think…I think you may be it for me.”
The words were quiet, raw, and nothing like the captain’s usual precision.
Isabel’s breath caught. “You don’t mean that.”
“I do,” Victoria said, eyes steady on hers. “I’ve never meant anything more in my life.”
The space between them dissolved. Isabel stepped forward before she could think, her forehead resting against Victoria’s chest. For a heartbeat, she just listened—to the steady rhythm beneath her ear, to the sound of two people trying to find their way back.
