3d7c485d-579f-46e2-8df8-3f346cf80099

Over-the-shoulder past the woman's sweater on the left, tight on the man on the lower step. He is looking up at her. Camera holds steady with organic micro-drift. He speaks first — the lightness from the joke fading, something real arriving. He looks down at the step for a beat, then back up at her. She responds from off-frame — her shoulder shifts as she talks. He listens, his expression changing — the half-grin dissolving into something quieter, more careful. THE MAN (looking up at her, the joke gone, honest): "Can I ask you something? And you don't have to answer." THE WOMAN (from off-frame, her shoulder shifting, guarded): "That's never a good start." THE MAN (looking directly at her, steady): "Where were you before Portland? Before the hospital. Before any of it." Pause. Her shoulder goes still. He waits. He doesn't push. THE WOMAN (quiet, from off-frame): "I don't know." THE MAN (not breaking eye contact): "You don't know or you don't remember?" Long pause. His eyes hold on her. Wind moves his hair. AUDIO: his voice low, rough, natural. Her voice from slightly off-frame, quieter. Wind constant. The porch creaking. Waves. The silence in the long pause — heavy, real. No music. Diegetic only.