Chapter 17: Where You Belong

The sun was beginning to set, casting golden light over the garden, turning the white and blue roses into something almost dreamlike. The air was thick with the scent of flowers, with the warmth of the fading day, but all I could feel was you sitting beside me, close enough that our shoulders brushed, close enough that the space between us hardly felt like space at all.

You leaned back against the wooden bench, eyes drifting toward the sky, watching as the first stars began to flicker into existence. "Do you ever think about forever?" you asked, voice soft, like you weren't sure if the words should be spoken aloud.

I turned to you, studying the way the dying light danced across your face. "I think about it every time I'm with you."

A small smile tugged at your lips, the kind that wasn't just seen but felt. You glanced down at the rose still in your hands, turning it slowly, as if searching for something in its petals. "It's strange," you murmured, "how some places can feel more like home than anywhere else."

I reached out, brushing my fingers over yours, tracing the lines of your palm before taking your hand in mine. "Maybe it's not the place," I said. "Maybe it's who you're with."

You looked at me then, really looked at me, and I saw something in your eyes something deeper than affection, something unspoken yet undeniable.

"You're right," you whispered.

The wind stirred around us, carrying the scent of roses, of memories, of a promise neither of us needed to say out loud. Because in that moment, there was nothing uncertain, nothing fleeting.

You were here.

With me.

Exactly where you belonged.