Tessa.
"I feel safe," I said truthfully. "I feel… calm with you."
The words didn't rush out of me. They weren't desperate or dramatic. They were steady. Quiet. As if they had been sitting somewhere deep inside my chest, waiting for me to recognize them.
His eyes closed briefly, like that was both a relief and a wound.
As if hearing it soothed him… and hurt him at the same time.
A small breath left him, controlled but unsteady at the edges. His jaw tightened slightly, like he was holding back something bigger, something that didn't fit into this fragile moment.
"But you don't remember falling in love with me," he finished.
He didn't say it accusingly. He didn't raise his voice.
He just… stated it.
The truth, laid bare.
"No."
The word sat between us.
Heavy.
Honest.
It didn't echo, but it felt like it did. It filled the space. It settled into the air like something tangible, something we both had to breathe around.
Outside, a car engine started in the distance.
