NEW EMOTIONS

NEW EMOTIONS

ANNA

The morning light filters through the thin curtains, casting a soft glow on the room. I wake up slowly, feeling a warmth beside me that’s unfamiliar, but not unwelcome. My heart skips a beat when I realize it’s Damien. His arm is draped over my waist, his body still pressed against mine from the night before.

This is the first time we’ve slept together—not just in the same bed, but really slept, side by side, without any of the walls or tension between us since we arrived.

I don’t want to move. There’s something about this moment that feels too fragile to break. His breathing is steady and soft, and I can feel the rise and fall of his chest against my back. It’s intimate, far more intimate than I ever expected to feel with him, and it sends a confusing wave of emotions through me.

I should be happy, right? This is what I wanted. But now that we’re here, lying together like this, it feels different—like something is shifting inside me, something I can’t control.

Slow