I sit still.
He sits still.
The room freezes like someone hit pause on life.
His eyes keep drifting—no, sticking—to my lips.
His antenna keeps brightening, dimming, brightening again like a broken warning light.
He's breathing slow and controlled, like he's holding a wild animal inside his chest.
I… cannot process this.
He kissed me.
We kissed.
My brain replays it once—
Taste? Warm.
Too warm.
Why do I remember that part?!
No. Stop. Abort thought.
Panic slams in late, like bad internet.
No no no no no.
This is not something I'm supposed to feel happy about.
Wait.
Hold on.
First use of free will.
And this is what he chooses?
Not asking.
Not talking.
Just—boom—alien instinct DLC unlocked.
My fingers curl into the bedsheet.
My heart is loud. Traitorously loud.
I swallow.
"This," I say finally, voice way calmer than my soul, "is not how free will works."
He flinches. Actually flinches.
His eyes snap to mine, antenna dimming fast like they got scolded too.
