I do not say yes right away.
The word sits between us, heavy with everything it could mean. Permanently is not just a place. It is a choice. It is a future that does not come with an exit sign clearly marked, no easy back door if fear takes over. It asks for commitment in a way that feels terrifyingly adult, terrifyingly real.
I want it.
That is the terrifying part.
I lie awake beside Damian that night, listening to the steady rhythm of his breathing, counting it without meaning to. In. Out. Slow. Even. Watching the faint rise and fall of his chest in the dark, the outline of him barely visible in the low light bleeding in from the city beyond the windows. His arm is draped around me, loose but certain, like he trusts that I will still be there when he wakes. There is no tension in the
