Sunday – 6:42 PM
The apartment was dim.
No lights on.
No sound but the slow, steady rhythm of their breathing.
Arisa sat on the couch, legs curled under her, Yuuki beside her — not touching, not pushing.
Just present.
Her eyes were swollen. Her voice was tired.
But her heart?
Still beating.
Still his.
---
"I never asked you to stay," she whispered.
"I stayed anyway."
She looked at him.
"Why?"
Yuuki didn't hesitate. "Because you're the first person I ever wanted to stay for."
Her voice cracked. "Even after everything I showed you?"
"Especially after that."
She blinked fast. "I don't know how to do this, Yuuki. I don't know how to be a girlfriend without walls, or filters, or a smile I've rehearsed a hundred times."
He reached for her hand. Held it gently. Thumb brushing the top of hers.
"Then let's be bad at it together."
A quiet laugh escaped her lips.
It wasn't perfect.
But it was real.
---
"I was going to run," she admitted.
"When?"
"Before I got too attached. Before you started asking questions. Before I had to feel this much."
Yuuki looked at her, eyes soft. "What changed?"
"You stayed," she said.
"Everyone else leaves when the fantasy breaks. You didn't flinch when you saw the cracks."
She leaned in slowly.
Rested her forehead against his.
And whispered—
"If you stay, I'll believe this is love."
He didn't answer.
He kissed her instead.
Not out of passion.
But out of promise.
And in that moment — for the first time — she kissed him back like she had nothing to prove.
Like maybe, just maybe…
She believed it too.