It's 2028 after all.
Richard watched her sleep as though the slightest movement might shatter the peace around them. The soft rhythm of her breathing filled the dim room, gentle, steady, the kind of sound that threaded itself into a man's bones and made them loosen.
I wish time could slow down and let me stay by her side longer.
Thin slices of city light slipped through the curtains and traced pale lines across her face, illuminating the stillness she rarely allowed herself while awake. Peaceful. Unburdened. Almost untouched by the storms she carried within.
From his spot beside her, memories rose in him like ghosts, uninvited at first, then painfully vivid.
He had been sixteen the first time he met Ahce.
Back then, she was nothing like the woman lying beside him now, calm, restrained, enigmatic. The girl he had known was bright in a way that felt almost dangerous. Sunlight intense enough to make a boy blink, brilliance sharp enough to make him feel small.
