The bedroom was quiet and smelled like pine trees and the soft inviting trail of Michelle’s vanilla perfume. The distant pops of New Year’s fireworks and the muffled celebrations of the town below faded into a dull, unimportant hum. In this room, the only sounds that mattered were the synchronized rhythm of their breathing and the heavy, echoing thud of two hearts finally beating in time once again, together.
Jeremiah hovered over her, his weight a comforting presence that Michelle had began to enjoy again after a decade. He framed her face with his hands, his thumbs tracing the line of her jaw with the careful precision of a man memorizing a map he never wanted to lose again.
"You are so beautiful," he rasped, his voice vibrating deep in his chest, a sound that made Michelle's skin tin
