Elizabeth's POV

I smiled, small and tired. “Then let me stay here for a while,” I said. “No questions, no judgment. Just us.”

He hesitated, then nodded. “Alright. Just for a while.”

He led me to the couch by the window. We sat side by side, the quiet stretching between us. He talked about work, about us. I listened, but my heart was full of something else — relief, warmth, the simple safety of being near him.

At one point, I laughed. He looked at me like he ...