ELIZABETH'S POV
It's been two weeks since everything.
And though some of my memories had returned, I kept them to myself.
Some pieces were still blurry—fragmented like shards of glass I wasn't ready to piece together. And honestly? I'd rather not force them.
Instead, I decided to start something.
Something new.
Starting a business or getting a job.
And I wanted to talk to Mav about it.
But I hadn't seen him all day.
With Alex at work, it was just Mom, Jayda, and me at home—and I didn't feel like talking to any of them.
It was all... too much. Almost suffocating.
The silence, the stares, the unspoken things hanging heavy in the air.
To shake off the weight pressing on my chest, I decided to take a walk—outside the estate.
A breath of fresh air. Some distance. Anything to feel like myself again.
As I descended the stairs, I let out a quiet sigh of relief.
The living room was empty.
No Mom.
No Jayda.
Just me... and the open door waiting at the end of the hallway.
Stepping out of the estate gate felt like breaking free from a prison.
Frustration engulfed my chest, my head aching—maybe from exhaustion, or from holding in too many secrets.
I just wanted out.
To be numb.
To curl into myself, untouched by the world.
But at the same time, I craved intimacy.
Connection.
A kind of love that existed beyond time, untouched by circumstance.
Something ancient. Sacred.
I craved a kiss.
And then I wondered—
if a kiss could define or describe itself... what would it say?
The answers came faster than I expected.
It would whisper—
"You're enough. Just as you are — tired, strong, messy, beautiful. You're enough."
"I love you and I see you — not just your face, but your soul."
"I trust you. I respect how much you carry and how deeply you feel."
"I want you — not for what you do, but for who you are when no one's looking."
"I would never leave. I'm not going to run when it gets hard. I'm here."
"I choose you — not for convenience, but for who you've become in fire and grace."
"You don't have to perform, compare, or shrink. I'm staying."
"You are enough — again and again, even when you forget."
*******
I laughed.
Soft. Bitter. Almost embarrassed.
Was I stupid to think this way?
To want so much from something as fleeting as a kiss?
Sometimes, I just wanted it all to end.
But deep down, I knew,
I had to face everything head-on.
This new phase demanded responsibility.
And responsibility... scared me.
The thought of what healing would require, the moment I said yes to the hand stretched in my direction,
it terrified me.
Roaming with no destination in mind, I wrestled with my thoughts.
Now I understood why the male leads in all those novels smoked when they were stressed.
'Sigh, I'm craving a cigarette.'
And for someone who never smoked, that was very weird.
***------‐***
A few minutes passed—maybe more—and I hadn't even noticed.
My feet had moved on their own, guided by muscle memory, not intention.
And somehow, I found myself standing in front of the pastry shop where I used to buy my favorite cake.
' I must have taken a cab.'
I couldn't remember the.pastry shop being close.
The familiar glass windows. The warm scent of vanilla and sugar escaping through the cracks in the door. It was all the same.
Almost painfully the same.
I stood there for a moment, staring.
Not sure if I wanted to go in.
Not sure if I wanted to feel... comforted.
Because comfort felt dangerous. Like it could pull me under if I let it. Like it would ask me to stay, when all I knew how to do was run.
But still, I opened the door.
The little bell above it chimed, soft and nostalgic, as if whispering welcome back.