CHAPTER 7: The Weight of Wanting

---

Chapter 7: The Weight of Wanting

The air was thick with the promise of rain again. Daisy sat at her desk, scrolling through the final draft of their second case study. Her fingers paused above the keyboard. Her mind wasn't on the work—it was on the echo of Calvin's voice from yesterday.

> "I think I already did."

She closed her laptop.

Lina peeked in from the door. "You okay?"

"I'm not used to someone meaning what they say," Daisy replied quietly. "Not without a catch."

Lina crossed the room and leaned against the desk. "Then maybe it's time you believed someone could."

---

Calvin

At the Klein house, Marcus tossed a worn basketball between his hands while Calvin leaned on the porch rail.

"She's in your head," Marcus said, not as a warning, but as a fact.

Calvin nodded. "And in my chest."

"You think she's scared of you?"

"No," Calvin said. "She's scared of needing anyone."

Marcus looked away. "That kind of fear is deep."

"I know," Calvin said. "But I'm not going anywhere."

---

Daisy's Past (Flashback)

In her high school bedroom, a younger Daisy stood at the window, arms wrapped around herself while her parents argued downstairs. Again.

Her father's voice—sharp. Her mother's silence—wounded.

Lina had sat on the edge of Daisy's bed that night and said softly, "You don't have to become what they are."

And Daisy had nodded, but silently made a promise: never need anyone too much. Never let anyone close enough to leave.

---

Now

Daisy walked to meet Calvin at the campus café.

He stood when he saw her.

"You look like you didn't sleep," he said.

"I didn't," she replied honestly. "Too many old ghosts."

He hesitated. "Do you want to talk about them?"

"No," she said. Then added, "But I want you to stay."

Calvin didn't speak—he just pulled out the chair beside him, not across.

And Daisy sat. Closer than before.

--