The moment stretched, the particular quality of silence that isn't empty but full, packed with everything neither person has said yet.
Sophie's fingers moved slightly at her sides, that small nervous fidget he'd noticed before, the one she didn't seem aware of.
Seeing this, He closed the distance first.
Not quickly. Not with urgency. Just with the quiet deliberateness of a decision made.
His hand found her jaw, and she exhaled, a soft, fractured sound, as his thumb traced the line of her cheek with aching tenderness, like he was memorizing the shape of something precious he'd been afraid to touch.
Her eyes searched his for half a second, vulnerable and wide, and whatever she found there, raw want, quiet wonder, the silent promise that he saw all of her and still wanted more, was apparently answer enough.
She rose onto her toes, heart hammering against her ribs, and the fragile space between them vanished like it had never existed.
