He proposed. And I couldn't say yes. But I couldn't say no.
The question lived between them like a third presence in the house. Always there. Never directly acknowledged. Hanging in every silence, every glance, every moment they accidentally touched and pulled away too quickly.
Marry me.
Two words that should have been simple. Yes or no. Binary choice. Clean decision.
Instead, they were quicksand. The more Elara examined them, the deeper she sank.
Three days had passed since the parking lot proposal. Three days of Kairos being carefully neutral, giving her space while his eyes followed her with desperate hope. Three days of her turning the question over and over in her mind until the words lost meaning and became just sounds.
Marry me. For Leo. For protection. For us.
She'd told him she needed time. He'd given it without complaint, his disappointment masked so carefully she almost believed he didn't care about the answer.
Almost.
