Chapter 6
Chapter 7: The Gentle Question
Ethan didn't push. He knew from his own therapy that pushing only made the walls thicker.
Instead, he started sitting at the end of Leo's lunch table. He didn't ask probing questions. He just offered a quiet, undemanding presence. He shared his notes. He talked about video games. He built a bridge, one subtle stone at a time.
Weeks passed. The emotional tension surrounding Leo seemed to thicken, a dark cloud only Ethan seemed to recognize.
One afternoon, while waiting in the pickup line, Ethan saw a heavy-set man step out of a sedan and gesture sharply toward Leo. The boy's face went completely blank—a survival mechanism Ethan knew intimately.
The next day at lunch, Leo was quiet. He kept his left arm tucked tightly against his chest.
Ethan set his sandwich down. He remembered Naomi’s voice, the way she had looked at him outside the school building years ago. He leaned forward, keeping his body language open and non-threatening.
"You don't have to tell me anything you don't want to," Ethan said, his voice barely above a whisper, holding Leo's gaze. "But if you're hurting, and if you're scared to go home... you aren't alone."
Leo stopped breathing for a fraction of a second. A tremor passed through his jaw.
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"I tripped," Leo whispered, looking away.
"Okay," Ethan said softly. He didn't demand the truth. He just left the door unlocked. "But if you ever want to tell someone else, my dad knows how to listen. And he never gets mad."
