Atasha's POV
It was strange—how after all that pain, I once again started to feel so comfortable around him as I felt before. The silence wasn't heavy like before. It was laced with something else. Familiarity, maybe. A fragile kind of peace.
We walked along the riverbank, the fading sun casting orange glimmers over the water. The breeze tangled through my hair, and when it brushed strands across my face, Antonio reached out gently, tucking them behind my ear without a word.
That simple touch unraveled something inside me.
"You're doing it again," I said, voice light but edged with tension.
He raised a brow. "What?"
"Making it easy to forget how much you once hurt me."
He stopped walking, and so did I. He looked at me for a long moment, the breeze tugging at his shirt, the sky burning behind him.
"I don't want you to forget, Atasha," he said softly. "I want you to remember it… and still choose to believe in me again. That's the only way this would mean anything."
The honesty in his voice struck something deep inside me. A heartbeat I'd been suppressing for too long.
Antonio's POV
She looked at me like she wanted to believe. Like part of her already did. But pain leaves a mark, and I saw every scar I'd left in the flicker of her eyes.
I took a slow step forward, never breaking eye contact.
"You said you need consistency," I said. "So I'm here. Walking with you. Standing still when you need space. Talking only when you're ready. If I'm not that man now, I'll become him."
Her lips parted slightly, like she wanted to speak, but she didn't. Instead, she took another step toward me—closer than she'd been in years.
"I'm scared," she whispered.
I nodded. "Me too. But I think the best stories start when the brave ones act anyway."
She smiled faintly—so faintly, it almost broke me.
Atasha's POV
Something shifted then. We stood so close, our breath tangled. I could hear the beat of my own heart like it was shouting in a silent room.
His eyes dropped to my lips for a second. My breath hitched.
And then, just like in the stories I'd only dared sketch in notebooks and dreams, he leaned in slowly. So slowly. Giving me all the time in the world to move, to pull away.
But I didn't.
Our lips met softly—like a whisper between souls that still remembered how to speak each other's language.
I closed my eyes and I could feel that butterflies in my stomach.
I wanted more.
It was like a door unlocking between two hearts.
Antonio's POV
When our lips parted, she didn't say anything right away. Neither did I. The moment didn't need words.
She rested her forehead gently against my chest, and I held her like I'd never get to again.
And in that quiet, I knew—this wasn't the end of the pain. Or the doubts. But maybe… just maybe, it was the beginning of something stronger.
Something honest.
Something worth every crash it took to get here.