Chapter 19: A Love That Stays

The night had deepened, wrapping the garden in shadows, but there was no darkness here only the soft glow of moonlight filtering through the leaves, casting silver patterns across the petals. The world felt still, as if it was listening, as if it knew that something important lived in this quiet.

You sat beside me, your hand still in mine, your eyes lost in the sky. The moon was full tonight, luminous and steady, watching over us like it had always been there, like it had always known.

"You ever think about how the moon never leaves?" you asked, voice barely above a whisper.

I glanced at you, at the way your fingers traced invisible shapes against your knee, at the way the wind played with the loose strands of your hair. "It's always there," I said, "even when we don't see it."

A small smile tugged at your lips. "Like love."

I exhaled softly, squeezing your hand. "Like love."

You turned to me then, your gaze holding something deeper than the moment, something that stretched beyond time, beyond words. "What if one day everything changes?"

I studied you, the way the moonlight painted you in soft silver hues, the way your expression held a vulnerability you rarely showed. And I knew you weren't afraid of love itself. You were afraid of losing it.

I shifted closer, lifting your hand to my chest, letting you feel the steady rhythm beneath my ribs. "Then let it change," I murmured. "Let the seasons pass, let the years slip by. But some things don't fade. Some things stay."

Your fingers curled slightly against my shirt, as if holding onto something more than just fabric. "And you think we're one of those things?"

I leaned in, pressing my forehead against yours, breathing you in. "I know we are."

You closed your eyes for a moment, and when you opened them again, the doubt had softened, replaced by something else something certain.

And as the wind wove through the garden, as the moon stood witness to this promise, I knew that no matter how the world shifted, no matter where time carried us, this love our love was the kind that stays.