I didn't know how long I slept.
But when I woke up, the room didn't feel as cold.
It felt… familiar.
Not in a way I could explain.
Just in the way my eyes didn't panic while looking around.
He was sitting by the window.
Watching the rain fall like he had done it a hundred times before.
Like this was normal.
Like we were normal.
"You always loved the rain," he said without turning.
My heart skipped.
I never told him that.
"I still do," I replied quietly.
He nodded, like that confirmed something for him.
Silence stretched between us again, but this one didn't feel heavy.
It felt lived-in.
Like a silence shared between people who didn't need to fill it with words.
I studied his profile.
The calm in his face.
The patience.
The way he didn't rush me.
And that strange feeling returned.
That he wasn't waiting for me to understand…
He was waiting for me to remember.
Then he said it.
Softly.
Almost like a habit.
"Come here, Lena."
My breath caught.
Lena?
I frowned. "That's not my name."
For the first time, he looked confused.
Not dark. Not mysterious.
Genuinely confused.
"Yes, it is," he said.
A chill ran through me.
"No, it's not," I whispered.
He stared at me for a long time.
Too long.
Then something shifted in his expression.
Not fear.
Not anger.
Realization.
A slow, horrifying realization.
He stood up slowly.
Walked toward me like he was approaching something fragile.
"What's your name?" he asked quietly.
I opened my mouth to answer.
And nothing came out.
My mind went blank.
Completely blank.
I knew my name.
I had always known my name.
So why couldn't I say it?
Panic rose in my chest.
"I…" I tried again.
Nothing.
My heart started racing.
Why can't I say my own name?
His eyes darkened, but not with mystery.
With understanding.
The kind that comes when a terrible truth finally makes sense.
"They didn't just take your memories," he said softly.
My chest tightened.
"They changed you."
My stomach dropped.
Changed me?
"What are you talking about?" I whispered.
He stepped closer.
So close I could feel the tension in his body.
"They gave you a new life," he said. "A new identity."
My head started spinning.
"That's impossible."
"Is it?" he asked gently.
Tears burned behind my eyes.
Because a part of me…
A terrifying, quiet part of me…
Believed him.
"You were never supposed to remember me," he continued.
"Then how did you find me?" I asked.
His gaze held mine.
"I never stopped searching for the girl who disappeared that night."
A tear slipped down my cheek before I could stop it.
"Lena," he said again, softer this time.
And something inside me trembled.
Not my mind.
My heart.
Because that name…
Felt like home.
And I didn't know why.