But we had learned to notice.

We had learned to apologize before the silence grew too wide.

We had learned that love was not the absence of difficult conversations; sometimes it was the willingness to have them repeatedly.

There was a small envelope under the lunchbox too.

Inside he’d tucked a photograph Sadie had taken of us by the school gates.

The picture was crooked, with the top of my head almost cut off and Callum leaning a little toward me to steady himself.

He had written a date on the back and four words: We showed up together.