Just slightly.
“That doesn’t mean I don’t feel it,” she says.
“I know.”
I’m closer now.
Close enough to see the details.
The strength.
The control.
And the exhaustion just beneath it.
“You don’t have to carry all of it,” I add.
Her breath shifts.
Just a fraction.
“I’m not,” she says.
A pause.
Then—
“I had you.”
That lands harder than anything else.
Because it’s not dependency.
It’s choice.
Again.
Everything comes back to that.
I reach for her slowly, my hand coming up to her jaw, the same way I did before—but this time, there’s no tension behind it.
No edge.
Just… us.
“You still do,” I say quietly.
Her eyes hold mine.
No hesitation.
No distance.
“Yeah,” she breathes.
And that’s all it takes.
I close the space between us.
