A Future Undecided

The silence between them stretched, but it was no longer heavy with hesitation. It was something else now an understanding, a shift neither of them could ignore.

Lena ran her fingers gently along Damian's hand, tracing the ridges of his knuckles. "You don't have to have all the answers right now," she murmured. "You just have to be willing to try."

Damian exhaled, his gaze locked onto hers as if searching for something assurance, maybe, or the certainty he had never allowed himself to believe in. "Trying has never been my strong suit," he admitted.

A soft smile touched her lips. "And yet, here you are."

His lips twitched slightly, as if the idea amused him despite the weight of their conversation. "Here I am," he echoed.

Lena studied him for a moment, her heart aching for the man who had spent so long guarding himself from the very thing he now seemed to crave. "Damian," she said carefully, "what would it take for you to believe that you deserve happiness?"

His expression flickered just for a moment but she caught it. The hesitation. The doubt. Then, his fingers tightened around hers, and when he finally spoke, his voice was quiet. "I don't know," he admitted. "But I think I'd like to find out."

Lena's breath caught, warmth blooming in her chest. This wasn't a confession of love, nor was it a promise of forever. But it was something. A step.

And for Damian Blackwood, that was enough.

She squeezed his hand. "Then let's start there."

For the first time in longer than he could remember, Damian allowed himself to believe that maybe—just maybe—a future built on something more than duty wasn't Impossible after all.