The office is quiet now. Clothes back on, bodies still flushed, but the tension between them has shifted softened. Outside, the sky is already dark, headlights glowing on wet pavement.
Mirabel walks ahead first, unlocking the car without saying anything. Janelle follows, eyes low, lips still tingling from everything Mirabel did to her.
They get in.
Silence.
The air in the car is thick, but it's no longer suffocating. It's… heavy with things unsaid. Feelings left to float between them like ghosts.
"I didn't plan it," Janelle finally says as they pull out of the lot. Her voice is tired. Honest. "All those girls. Aster. Kade. Even Naya. I didn't do it to hurt you…"
Mirabel doesn't answer right away. Her grip on the steering wheel tightens. "But you did hurt me."
"I know."
"And yet…" Mirabel's voice cracks just a little, "the second I touch you… you fall apart for me."
Janelle swallows. "Because it's only you."
The drive is slow, raindrops tapping gently on the windshield, the city glowing like a memory outside the windows.
Mirabel's voice softens. "Why didn't you wait for me, Janelle?"
"I did wait. I waited every damn day." Janelle turns toward her. "You sent Naya, remember? You sent her to control me."
Mirabel sighs. "I sent her to protect you."
"No," Janelle snaps, "you sent her because you didn't trust me."
They're quiet again. The kind of silence that hurts.
But then Mirabel pulls into the driveway. Stops the car. Leaves the engine running.
"I didn't trust myself," she whispers. "Because loving you… ruins me."
And Janelle? She reaches out and grabs Mirabel's hand, placing it over her heart.
"Then let's ruin each other properly this time."
They both stare at each other.
The door unlocks.
They step into the house together.
This time, no games. Just them.
Just love...
And maybe a few more sins before dawn.
---
To be continued