Chapter 37: Falling Stars and Silent Promises

The stars shimmered above us, casting their cold light over the garden, but I wasn't looking at them anymore. I was looking at you.

Your fingers were still laced with mine, warm against the night air, your grip gentle yet certain. There was something about this moment something unspoken but undeniable. The quiet stretched between us, not awkward, not heavy, just… full. Full of everything we felt but didn't need to say.

"You ever wish on a shooting star?" you murmured, still gazing at the sky.

I thought about it for a moment before shaking my head. "No. Never needed to."

You turned to me then, your eyes reflecting the starlight, curious. "Why?"

I looked down at our hands, at the way your thumb brushed lightly against mine as if the motion was second nature. "Because I already have what I would've wished for."

You blinked, caught off guard. Then, slowly, a smile broke across your lips not just a smile, but the kind that starts deep, that reaches your eyes, that lingers even after it's gone.

For a while, we just sat there, breathing in the night, the world moving around us but never truly touching us. And then, with the same quiet certainty, you rested your head against my shoulder, and I knew whatever came next, whatever the universe had planned, this moment would always be ours.