Six weeks felt like six minutes and six years all at once.
Maya woke up on a Tuesday morning with Ethan's arm draped across her waist, his breathing steady against her neck, and had the disorienting realization that this was becoming normal. He kept a toothbrush at her apartment. Half his clothes lived in her closet. His camera equipment cluttered her living room.
He was staying. Actually staying.
And it terrified her.
"You're thinking too loud," Ethan mumbled into her hair. "I can hear your anxiety from here."
"I'm not anxious."
"You've been awake for ten minutes mentally cataloging everything that could go wrong." He pressed a kiss to her shoulder. "I'm getting good at reading you."
"That's presumptuous."
"That's accurate." He rolled her over to face him, his blue-green eyes still heavy with sleep. "Talk to me. What's the spiral today?"
Maya traced the line of his jaw, buying time.
Six weeks together and he could already read her panic attacks before they fully formed. That should have been comforting. Instead, it felt exposing.
"My dad wants to meet you," she said finally. "For dinner. This Friday."
Ethan's eyebrows rose. "That's… big."
"Huge. He hasn't wanted to meet anyone I've dated since college. Mainly because I haven't dated anyone since college. But also because" She paused. "He's very protective. Since Mom died, I'm all he has. If he doesn't like you"
"Then what? You'll break up with me because your dad disapproves?" Ethan's tone was gentle, teasing.
"Maybe. I don't know. He's important to me."
"I know. Which is why I want to meet him." Ethan kissed her softly. "I want to meet the man who raised someone as brave and beautiful and damaged as you."
"I'm not brave."
"You're the bravest person I know. You're terrified every day and you keep choosing me anyway." He pulled her closer. "Friday dinner. I'll wear something nice. I'll be charming. I'll win him over."
"He's not easy to win over."
"Good thing I'm persistent."
They stayed in bed longer than they should have, trading kisses and morning confessions and the kind of lazy intimacy that made Maya forget to be scared.
Eventually, reality intruded clients to see, photos to edit, a life that kept moving forward whether they were ready or not.
Maya's first client of the day was Sophie, the nine-year-old whose father was deployed. She'd been making steady progress, but today she seemed agitated, her small hands fidgeting with the paint tubes.
"Want to talk about what's bothering you?" Maya asked gently.
"My mom has a boyfriend." Sophie didn't look up. "She says it doesn't mean she doesn't love Dad. But what if Dad comes home and she doesn't want him anymore?"
Maya felt the question like a punch to the chest. "That must be really scary."
"What if people just… change their minds? About loving you?"
What if they do? Maya's own fear whispered. What if Ethan wakes up one day and realizes staying was a mistake?
"Sometimes people do change," Maya said carefully. "But real love the kind that matters doesn't just disappear because things get hard. Your mom loving someone new doesn't erase what she feels for your dad. People can hold more than one feeling at a time."
Sophie finally looked up. "Can they?"
"Yeah. I promise." Maya handed her the red paint Sophie gravitated toward when processing anger. "Paint it out. Show me what scared feels like."
Sophie painted furiously angry reds and blacks, a small figure surrounded by shadows. But in the corner, barely visible, a tiny splash of yellow. Hope, maybe. Or the possibility of it.
After Sophie left, Maya sat alone in her art room and realized she'd been giving advice she didn't fully believe herself. Could people hold conflicting feelings? Could Ethan love her and still sometimes resent the choice to stay?
Her phone buzzed. A text from Ethan with a photo: his new studio space. Bare walls, good light, empty shelves waiting to be filled.
Signed the lease. Making it official. Still terrified.
Maya smiled despite her spiraling thoughts. Me too. Want to celebrate tonight?
Always.
That evening, Maya met Ethan at his new studio. It was in a converted warehouse downtown high ceilings, industrial windows, the smell of fresh paint and possibility. Other artists had studios on the same floor, their doors open to reveal works in progress.
"It's perfect," Maya said, turning in a slow circle. "Very you."
"Very me trying to be a different version of me." Ethan set down his camera bag, suddenly vulnerable. "What if I'm terrible at this? At staying in one place?"
"You've been doing pretty well so far."
"Six weeks isn't twelve years. What if the newness wears off and I realize I've made a huge mistake?"
Maya crossed to him, cupped his face. "Then we'll deal with it. Together. That's the deal, remember? Six months. We try."
"I want it to work," Ethan whispered. "That's what scares me. I actually want this the studio, the routine, you. What if wanting it isn't enough?"
"What if it is?"
He kissed her then, urgent and desperate, backing her against the empty wall. They christened the new studio the way new spaces should be christened with hope and heat and the reckless belief that they could build something that lasted.
Afterward, sitting on the floor eating takeout straight from the containers, Ethan's phone rang. He glanced at the screen and his expression shifted.
"It's Marcus. Hold on." He answered. "Hey, what's" His face went pale. "What? When?" He stood abruptly. "I'm on my way."
"What happened?" Maya asked, already standing.
"Lauren went into early labor. The baby" His voice cracked. "Something's wrong. They're at the hospital."
They drove to the hospital in tense silence, Ethan's hands white-knuckled on the steering wheel. Maya wanted to say something comforting, but all the platitudes felt hollow. Sometimes things went wrong. Sometimes people left without warning. She knew that better than anyone.
At the hospital, they found Marcus in the waiting room, Oliver asleep in his arms, his face drawn and terrified.
"Hey," Ethan said softly. "What's happening?"
"Placental abruption. They had to do an emergency C-section." Marcus's voice was hoarse. "She's in surgery now. The baby they don't know if" He couldn't finish.
Ethan took Oliver from him. "She's going to be okay. They both are."
"You don't know that."
"I know Lauren is the strongest person you've ever met. I know she's fought for this family every day. I know she's not going anywhere." Ethan's voice was fierce, certain in a way Maya envied.