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Prologue

“Are you going to leave again?” I ask him

There’s a small pause that feels like it stretches an eternity as e Then, from the bed before me, there’s a quiet, “No”

“Are we going to talk about it?”

He rasps, “No”

There’s thick tension per the air, but it hasn’t suffocated us yet “Can I sleep in here tonight?”

I wait for the inevitable “no” to follow the hesitant silence, but it never does After waiting a few long heartbeats, I walk into the room, toward the lump under the thin sheet he sleeps beneath

Even though it’s dark, I see his eyesles To my surprise, he says, “Okay”

I toe out ofplenty of distance between us We don’t touch or talk, only breathe until another eternity passes

I turn ontohim, and whisper, “I think I may break up with Chase”

No answer

No sound

Is he even breathing?

Then there’s a tug on ers wrap around mine, then a palm, and I sneach other now, his erously close to mine, and stays there

He doesn’t move

Doesn’t speak

Throat bobbing, I press a kiss against the corner of his mouth I do that I become that person, and I don’t think about the consequences when his breath hitches or when heain

And I want to

I crave it

Both of us breathe hard, htens aroundmine, his lips so close I can practically taste them

I close the distance, kissing hi Neither of us moves to deepen it, we just breathe into each other like we’re giving one another life As if, in this moment, the faintest touch of our lips is all there is

Nobody else matters