Later, Rowan raised his glass of cider. “To new beginnings, Mik,” he said, looking right at me.
We had decided to delay our reception. I didn’t want Rowan to overdo it, and I had been nervous about the first dance.
For days afterward, life glowed—slightly burnt pancakes for breakfast, movie nights tangled together.
But about a week later, something shifted.
Rowan began waking before me, closing the office door. At dinner, he was distracted, his jokes half-hearted. He barely touched his guitar, which he usually played every night.
At first, I told myself he just needed space.
But one night, when I reached for his hand in bed, he flinched.
“Sorry, Mik. I’m just really tired.”
I knew he was lying.
Then he started locking our bedroom door in the afternoons. Once, when I knocked to ask about lunch, he snapped: “I’m fine, Mikayla. Please, just… not now.”
Rowan never snapped at me. And he never locked doors.
Doubt crept in. Did he regret marrying me? Was Mom right?
One afternoon, Mom called.
“I made too much baked ziti. Want me to swing by?”
I hesitated, then agreed.
That day, I left work early and beat her home. The apartment was silent—no music, no TV, not even the sound of Rowan’s wheels.
Then I heard a heavy thud from the bedroom. A dragging noise. Another thud. Quick, ragged breathing.
“Rowan?” I called. Silence.
I knocked. “Honey, are you alright?”
From behind the locked door: “I’m fine, Mik. Don’t come in.”
But his voice was clipped, breathless.
