MARIE

The air in the living room felt charged, humming with an energy that made the fine hairs on my arms stand up.

A moment ago, the room had been filled with my mother’s anxious protest about Daniel not being ready, and now, the silence was thick, heavy, and sweet.

I stood frozen, my legs feeling like they might give way under the sheer weight of the moment, but my heart was soaring, tethered only by the look in Daniel’s eyes.

It was a gaze I had spent months learning... the way ...