The moment Belle leaned forward and connected her lips with mine, my mind went completely, catastrophically blank.
It wasn't dramatic. There was no thunder, no flash of insight, no grand realization delivered with perfect timing. It was just… her.
Warm.
Real.
Close enough that I could feel her breath against my face, close enough that the world narrowed to a single point of contact where everything I was touched everything she was.
I froze.
Not because I didn't want it.
Because I did. Too much. Enough that my body lagged behind my mind, caught somewhere between disbelief and a stupid, boyish shock that said this is actually happening.
Her lips were soft. Softer than I expected, somehow. There was a faint taste of salt from her tears, and something warm and familiar underneath it. Home, maybe. Or relief. Or the quiet joy that comes after surviving something you never thought you would.
For a heartbeat, maybe two, I didn't move at all.
Then instinct caught up.
