Chapter 39: The Last Dawn

The night had wrapped around us like a quiet promise, but as the horizon began to lighten, I felt the weight of something unspoken settle between us. The stars that had once shined so clearly were now fading, swallowed by the slow rise of dawn.

You lifted your head from my shoulder, your gaze still heavy with sleep, yet filled with something deeper something I couldn't name but could feel.

For the first time, I didn't know what to say.

Maybe because there were no words for moments like this.

For the ache of knowing that something so perfect, so whole, was slipping through our fingers not because we were letting go of each other, but because the place that held so many of our memories was becoming just that: a memory.

You sighed, tilting your head toward the soft hues of morning. "It's beautiful," you whispered.

I looked at the garden, the wooden house, the world we had built within these walls. "It is."

Your lips pressed into a small, knowing smile. "We'll always have this place in our hearts."

I nodded, gripping your hand a little tighter, as if to anchor us both in the moment. Because after today, this place would no longer be ours. But we, we would still be us.