CHAPTER 33 — WHEN NORMAL STARTS TO FEEL LIKE LIFE AGAIN
1038 Words
📖 CHAPTER 33 — WHEN NORMAL STARTS TO FEEL LIKE LIFE AGAIN
POV: SERA
Some mornings felt almost… ordinary.
That was new for me.
Strange, even.
Because I had started to forget what ordinary was supposed to feel like.
---
Emma had already left for the pharmacy when I woke up.
The apartment was quiet in that soft way that no longer made me anxious.
I sat on the edge of the bed for a moment, just listening to nothing happening.
No footsteps outside the door.
No guards.
No controlled silence like Alessandro’s world.
Just… nothing.
---
I pressed a hand lightly to my stomach without thinking.
Still hidden.
Still mine.
Still something I didn’t have to explain to anyone yet.
A small, fragile secret I carried alone.
---
The knock at the door startled me slightly.
I hesitated before opening it.
Lucien stood outside like he always did now—calm, patient, almost politely distant.
“You’re late today,” he said softly.
“I didn’t know I had a schedule,” I replied, adjusting my hair slightly.
A faint smile touched his face.
“You don’t. I just notice patterns.”
That sounded simple enough.
Not threatening.
Not strange.
Just observant.
---
I stepped outside with him.
The street was quiet again.
Normal people walking past.
No tension in the air.
No heaviness pressing down on me.
For the first time in a long time, I didn’t feel like I was running from anything.
---
“You’re getting used to this place,” Lucien said as we walked.
I thought about it.
“I think so.”
“That’s good.”
A pause.
Then softly—
“People heal better when they stop expecting danger every second.”
I glanced at him.
“That sounds like experience talking.”
He nodded slightly.
“It is.”
---
We walked past a small café.
The smell of coffee drifted through the air.
I found myself breathing a little deeper without realizing it.
Lucien noticed.
He always noticed small things.
But it never felt invasive.
Just… attentive.
---
“You don’t ask a lot about me,” I said after a while.
“I don’t need to,” he replied.
That made me pause slightly.
“Why?”
He shrugged lightly.
“People reveal themselves naturally. Forcing it usually makes them close off.”
That sounded reasonable.
Almost kind.
---
We stopped near a bookstore.
Lucien glanced inside briefly, then turned back to me.
“You seem calmer lately,” he said.
“I think I am,” I admitted.
And I meant it.
For the first time, I actually meant it.
---
Emma didn’t like him.
She never said it directly anymore, but I could tell.
Still, she hadn’t stopped me from seeing him.
Maybe because she thought I needed normal conversations again.
Maybe because she thought I deserved something that didn’t feel like survival.
---
Lucien handed me a small paper bag.
“What’s this?” I asked.
“Bread,” he said simply. “You skipped breakfast again yesterday.”
I blinked.
“I didn’t tell you that.”
“You didn’t have to.”
That should have felt strange.
But it didn’t.
It just felt… considerate.
---
I smiled slightly without thinking.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
A pause.
Then he added gently—
“You trust easily.”
I hesitated.
“Is that bad?”
He tilted his head slightly.
“Not always.”
---
Something about the way he said it made my chest loosen slightly.
Not fear.
Not suspicion.
Just ease.
And I didn’t question why ease felt so rare that I noticed it so clearly.
---
Later that evening, Emma came home earlier than usual.
She looked tired.
“You were out with him again?” she asked while setting her bag down.
“Yes.”
Emma sighed softly.
“You really don’t see anything strange about him?”
I frowned slightly.
“No.”
That answer made her go quiet.
---
“Emma,” I said after a moment, “he’s just… calm. That’s all.”
She looked at me for a long time.
Then nodded slowly.
“Okay,” she said softly. “Just… be careful.”
But she didn’t push further.
And I didn’t either.
---
That night, Lucien didn’t visit.
And for some reason, I noticed that more than I should have.
---
The next morning, he was back again.
Same place.
Same timing.
Same calm expression.
“You’re consistent,” I said as we met.
“I could say the same about you now,” he replied.
That made me pause slightly.
“Am I?”
He nodded.
“Yes. You come out around this time now.”
I hadn’t even realized that.
---
We walked again.
Side by side.
Comfortable.
Quiet.
---
At some point, I said something I didn’t expect.
“I think I’m starting to like this routine.”
Lucien looked at me briefly.
Then smiled faintly.
“That’s good.”
A pause.
Then softly—
“Routine is how people stop running.”
I didn’t fully understand what he meant.
But it didn’t feel dangerous.
Just thoughtful.
---
He walked me back near the apartment later.
Before leaving, he stopped.
“You’re doing better than when I first met you,” he said.
“Really?”
“Yes.”
A faint smile.
Then quietly—
“You’re easier to read now.”
I laughed softly.
“I don’t know if that’s good or bad.”
“It depends on who’s reading you.”
---
And then he left.
Just like that.
No pressure.
No heaviness.
No expectation.
---
I stood there for a moment after he disappeared down the street.
And for the first time in a long time…
I didn’t feel like I had just survived a conversation.
I felt like I had just had one.
---
Far away, Lucien watched her leave the corner of the street from a distance she would never notice.
His expression stayed calm.
Almost amused.
“She really is easy,” he murmured to himself.
Not cruelly.
Not harshly.
Just observant.
Like stating a fact.
Then softly—
“Good.”
- Writer
