Atasha's POV
The warmth of his lips still lingered on mine, even after he pulled back. It wasn't the kind of kiss that demanded anything—it was one that gave. A quiet surrender. I stood frozen in the moment, my chest rising and falling as if I had just run a marathon… or maybe like I had finally stopped running.
I didn't say anything at first. I was afraid to ruin the silence with doubt. But his eyes… God, those eyes had changed. There was no charm-game left in them. No teasing spark. Just this raw, trembling kind of honesty. It felt fragile, like if I said the wrong thing, everything between us would shatter again.
A part of me was still screaming to protect myself. To step back. To remind myself how many nights I cried over him. But the other part—the part that never stopped whispering his name in the dark—was just tired of pretending.
Antonio's POV
She didn't push me away.
That alone felt like the first miracle I didn't deserve. My hands dropped slowly from her face, not because I wanted the distance, but because I was afraid she'd realize the weight of what just happened and retreat.
Her silence was thunder in my chest. Every second that passed felt like a thread I might lose hold of again.
"Selene," I whispered, using the name that still felt like home. "If that crossed a line, I—"
She stopped me with a look. A sharp, calm look. "Don't ruin it with overthinking."
God. That's her. That fire hidden beneath her grace. That steady flame I always admired but never knew how to warm myself beside without getting burned.
Atasha's POV
He kept looking at me like he couldn't believe I was real. And to be honest, I didn't know if I was real anymore. I had spent so long building walls, wearing my strength like armor, convincing myself that moving on meant never looking back.
But maybe… maybe healing doesn't always mean forgetting. Maybe it means choosing to walk forward, even if your path loops back to something familiar.
"Why now?" I asked finally. "Why show up, why try again, why… me?"
He took a breath that made his whole chest rise. "Because I realized no dream means anything if you're not in it."
Antonio's POV
That was the truth.
I had made peace with the idea that she'd never forgive me. I had prepared to live my life in quiet regret. I would have built my success, worn a smile for the world, and died with her name still echoing in the quiet corners of my mind.
But then I saw her again—really saw her. Stronger. Bolder. Still soft where it mattered most.
And I couldn't let that second chance rot under fear.
"You made me want to become better," I said. "Even from a distance. Even when you hated me."
Atasha's POV
I wanted to hate him. I did. But the thing about hate is… it never stays pure when there's love buried underneath it. It mutates. Fades. And eventually, when the anger is gone, what you're left with is the ache of what could've been.
Looking at him now, I saw what could be—not a boy who flirted and broke hearts, but a man who had cracked his own trying to understand love too late.
Maybe we both needed to fall apart to rebuild something real.
"You're not forgiven yet," I said, quietly. "But… I'm willing to see where this goes."
His smile was small, grateful. "That's more than I could ever ask for."
And somehow, in that quiet understanding, something between us shifted. No promises, no declarations. Just the steady rhythm of two hearts learning how to beat in sync again.