Page 198 of The Run Back Home

The noise of the room rushes back in for a second—glass clinking, laughter, music bleeding through conversation—then Jace turns back to me like JJ was never even there.

And it fades away again.

"So, Alaska," he says.

He pauses, his voice different—not playful anymore.

"Then… home?"

I step toe-to-toe with him, the space left between us disappearing completely. "Wherever you are," I say, sliding my hands beneath his jacket. "That's where I'll be."

His arms tighten around me, grounding me in a way no place ever has before.

And I think of the otters.

Drifting. Not fighting the current. Refusing to let go.

It turns out they were right all along.

The trick wasn't staying in the same place.

It was holding on anyway.

The End