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She didn't leave right away. After everything he said, after everything she asked. Cassy stayed standing there like moving too quickly might break something or make it less real.
"…You always do that," she said quietly.
Caleb watched her. "Do what?"
"Say something that changes everything," she murmured. A pause. "And then act like it's just… normal."
Caleb didn't respond immediately because he knew it wasn't normal. Not to her not anymore.
"…It is normal to me," he said finally. A pause. "When it's the truth."
Silence because that, hat was the difference between them. He said things when he was sure. She felt things even when she wasn't ready to say them.
Cassy let out a quiet breath. "…That's the problem."
Caleb's brows pulled slightly. "How is that a problem?"
She looked at him and for the first time there was no careful distance in her expression. No holding back just… everything.
"Because you make it sound so certain," she said. A pause. "Like there's no risk in it."
Silence because that wasn't true and he knew it.
"There is risk," Caleb said quietly. A pause. "I'm just not avoiding it."
That answer, it didn't calm her. It made everything sharper, clearer, more real.
"…I am," she admitted softly, honest.
That was the first crack. The first real admission. Caleb didn't move, didn't interrupt just… listened because this, this mattered.
"I keep thinking about everything that could go wrong," Cassy continued. A pause. "The pressure. The expectations. What people are saying." Another pause. "What happens if this doesn't work."
Silence because that, that was fear. Not of him but of everything around them.
Caleb stepped closer not too close just enough to be there. "And what happens if it does?" he asked quietly.
That question, it caught her off guard because she hadn't let herself think about that. Not fully.
"…That's different," she said. A small pause. "That's… bigger."
Caleb nodded. "Yes." A pause. "It is."
Silence because that was the truth. This wasn't something small, it wasn't temporary, it wasn't casual and that, that was what made it overwhelming.
Cassy looked down briefly then back at him. "…You said I'm the person you're not willing to lose." Her voice was softer now more vulnerable.
Caleb nodded. "I meant that." No hesitation, no doubt just truth.
Cassy swallowed slightly. "…Do you know what that does to me?" That question, it wasn't rhetorical it was real and heavy.
Caleb didn't answer because he wanted her to.
"It makes me feel like I matter more than I'm used to," she said. A pause. "And that's not a light thing." Another pause. "It's not easy to hold."
Silence because that, that was vulnerability in its rawest form. Not fear of losing him but fear of being that important.
Caleb's expression softened. "You don't have to hold it all at once." A pause. "We're not rushing this."
Cassy shook her head slightly. "…It doesn't feel slow." A faint breath. "It feels like everything is happening at the same time."
And that, that was exactly it. The pressure, the change, the feelings. All of it colliding.
Caleb stepped closer again this time closing the distance. Not overwhelming but steady.
"Then don't try to control all of it," he said quietly.
Cassy let out a small, shaky breath. "…You say that like it's easy."
A faint pause. "It's not," he admitted. Another pause. "But neither is fighting it."
Silence because that, that was true too. There was no easy version of this, only a choice to feel it or to run from it.
Cassy looked at him, really looked and something in her finally gave in. Not completely but enough.
"…I don't want to run from it," she said softly. A pause. "I just don't know how to stand in it without getting overwhelmed."
Caleb's voice lowered slightly. "Then you don't stand in it alone."
That line, it settled something. Not everything but enough because that, that was the difference now. She didn't have to figure it out by herself, she didn't have to carry it alone.
Cassy exhaled slowly and this time she didn't step back, didn't create distance, didn't retreat. She stayed right there with him. Even with everything she was feeling, even with everything she didn't fully understand yet.
Because maybe that was the point. Not to have it all figured out not to feel completely steady but to stay anyway and let it be real.
Even when it hit all at once.