Even If We Shatter

An emotionally dark small-town romance about burnout, and learning to lean when everything feels like it's falling apart.Rowan is running on fumes.Between double shifts and hospital visits, she's holding herself together with caffeine and spite. Her father's violence has landed her mother in the hospital, again—this time, it might be permanent. Rowan doesn't have the luxury of falling apart. She doesn't have space for softness. Or love.Mick is no stranger to ghosts.A former Army combat medic turned firefighter, he works every shift he can to avoid the silence waiting for him at home. No room to think. No room to feel.He starts working at a new service and finds Rowan.He falls first. And hard.She's sharp edges and quiet strength. Exhausted but unbreakable. Mick wants her—wants to steady her, shoulder some of the weight she carries—but with everything crashing down around her, adding romance to her life feels selfish.Rowan doesn't need another thing to survive. But maybe she doesn't have to survive alone.In a small town where everyone sees everything and found family means more than blood, two burned-out souls learn that love isn't another burden to carry… it's something you lean into when the world tries to break you.Sometimes healing doesn't happen in perfect pieces.Sometimes, even if you shatter… you don't fall alone.