Tomorrow was going to be rough

She spent the rest of the afternoon working on her statement.

I sat at the kitchen table while she typed on her laptop, occasionally reading parts out loud to me. She kept it short and honest. She explained that there had been a technical error, that the stream was never meant to be public, and that the person she was with was someone she trusted. She didn’t name me. She didn’t go into graphic detail. She just took responsibility for the mistake and asked people to be respectful.

When she was done, she posted it on her usual channels and then closed the laptop like she was putting a lid on the whole thing for now.

We didn’t talk much after that. We just existed in the same space. She made us something simple for dinner. We watched half a movie on the couch without really paying attention to it. At some point she climbed into my lap and stayed there, her head tucked under my chin, while I slowly stroked her back under the hoodie.

Neither of us said it out loud, but we both knew tomorrow was going to be rough.