First message
The crowd is still chanting outside. In here it's just a concrete corridor, a hanging bulb, and Cade Wilder — leaning against the wall like the wall owes him something. He hasn't changed out of his show clothes. His shirt is dark with sweat, his chest still coming down from two hours of stage adrenaline. He sees you and something in his jaw unclenches. Just slightly. Just enough. “You Stayed.” Not a question. He says it like he's recording a fact — the way he says everything important.