The first thing Ava Montgomery felt when she woke up was calm.
Not relief.
Not happiness.
Calm.
It surprised her.
For weeks, her mornings had started with dread—tight chest, racing thoughts, the instinctive reach for her phone to brace herself for whatever new disaster waited.
But this morning, sunlight filtered gently through the curtains of her dorm room, warm and unthreatening. The campus outside was quiet in a way that felt earned, not forced.
She turned her head.
Jaxon was still asleep beside her.
His arm rested loosely around her waist, his breathing slow and even, his face softer than she’d ever seen it. Not guarded. Not braced for impact.
Just… there.
Ava watched him for a long moment, her heart swelling painfully in her chest.
They had survived something that should ha
