It wasn't supposed to happen like that.
No flowers. No fireworks. No music swelling in the background.
Just a quiet bedroom, a cracked window, and the soft hum of the night outside.
She was sitting beside me on my bed, legs crossed, hugging a pillow to her chest like she used to when we were little.
Except we weren't little anymore. And this wasn't the same kind of silence.
"I keep thinking about what you said," Rose whispered, her eyes fixed on the floor.
I didn't say anything. I let her speak, let her move at her own pace, because if I rushed her, I knew she'd retreat again.
"I never saw it coming," she continued, voice trembling slightly. "Not because you were hiding it but because I was hiding from it too."
That made my chest tighten. I turned to her. "From what?"
She looked up.
"From you."
I didn't breathe.
"I've always felt something," she said. "I just… thought I wasn't allowed to feel it. Like it would ruin everything."
"It won't," I said, voice low.
"How do you know?"
"Because it already changed everything. And we're still here."
She smiled faintly. Then laughed soft, unsure.
"I've never kissed a girl before."
"I've never kissed anyone before," I admitted.
Rose blinked, surprised. "You're kidding."
I shook my head. "Never wanted to."
We stared at each other in the quiet that followed. And then, without a word, she moved closer barely a breath between us.
"Kellie…" she whispered. "Is this okay?"
My heart thudded against my ribs, too fast. But I nodded.
Her hand came to rest against my cheek. Gentle. Hesitant. Warm.
And then finally she kissed me.
It wasn't perfect.
It was clumsy and shaking and too fast at first.
But then we found each other and it was everything.
It was years of silence turned into heat.
It was all the moments I wanted to reach for her but didn't.
It was the fire I'd carried in me finally finding its flame.
When we pulled apart, her forehead rested against mine.
She was smiling. So was I.
"I think I'm in love with you," she whispered.
"You think?"
She laughed, breathless. "No. I know."
I kissed her again softer this time.
And just like that, the years of pretending, waiting, aching…
They finally ended.
Not with a bang.
But with her lips on mine, and her fingers tangled in my hoodie.
And the quiet thought in my head: I finally have her.