No Longer Your Silent Knight

Sadie has spent years as Noah's voice, translating his signs for teachers and family, fighting the bullies who tormented the silent boy after the accident that took his speech. She believed their shared history made them a "we" — until Serena arrived and began teaching Noah about boundaries, and Noah started asking for personal space.

Then Sadie finds a crumpled note addressed to Serena, in Noah's unmistakable handwriting, and the bond she built her world around shatters. When she confronts him by the bleachers, Serena appears at his shoulder, and Noah signs the words Sadie never expected: he needs distance from her.

As rain falls, Sadie remembers the Speech Rehabilitation Center, where Noah once traced Y-O-U into her palm and promised she would be the first to hear his voice. She runs through the wet streets — and finds Serena's fingers tracing the line of Noah's throat, a touch he has always hated.