The city had not changed. The city would never change. But the demon inside you—the one that used to whisper push him, take it, break the glass, say the thing you’ll regret —was now a docile thing curled beneath your ribs. It purred at the sight of a couple arguing on the subway platform. It yawned when someone cut you in line for coffee.
For the first time in six years, you listened to the silence and did not feel abandoned by it. You felt held.
You finished your coffee. You went inside. You did not lock the door.