We don't look back when we leave the temple. I don't think I could.
It felt like something inside that place cracked open; like something inside me cracked open too.
The statue still haunts me. The blood on my fingers. The way the pendant in Ren's hand glowed like it recognised him. Or me.
I don't ask what he saw. He doesn't ask what I felt. We just walk in silence through the trees, fog curling around us like it wants to keep us.
Hours pass. Or maybe it's only minutes and the forest is just playing tricks.
Then, finally- we find it. An abandoned house, swallowed by ivy and time. It shouldn't feel like safety.
But with Ren beside me, it kind of does.
Inside, everything smells like damp earth and faded wood. The windows are broken. The roof leaks in the corner. But it's solid enough to keep us dry, and the door still locks.
That's enough.
And then we see the bed.
One.
We both stop. Just for a second.
Ren raises an eyebrow, one corner of his mouth tugging up like he's trying not to laugh. "Well. That's cozy."
I toss him a look. "Don't get any ideas."
"Too late."
He drops his bag beside the bed and stretches, muscles moving under his soaked shirt like sin wrapped in sarcasm. I force myself to look away, focusing on the window. Or the cracked wall. Or literally anything that isn't his smirk.
We eat quietly; sharing whatever he had left in his pack. Our hands brush when I take the water flask. Neither of us mentions it.
The silence isn't awkward anymore.
It's... comfortable.
Familiar.
Eventually, there's no reason left to stay up. I climb into the bed, back turned, claiming my side like I'm laying a battle line. But I don't tell him to sleep on the floor.
He lies down beside me, slow and careful.
The space between us could be oceans. Or inches. I'm not sure which is worse.
I can feel the heat of him through the blanket. Hear his breathing. And every second that ticks by makes my chest tighter.
I close my eyes.
But then I feel it—his fingers brush against mine beneath the blanket. Barely touching. Just a question, trembling in the dark.
I don't pull away.
"I'm not trying anything," he whispers.
"I know," I whisper back. And after a beat, I let my fingers find his.
The pendant glows softly between us. A quiet reminder that the world outside is cursed and brutal.
But right now... in this abandoned house, in this stolen moment, I let myself pretend.
Pretend there's no cycle.
No god of death.
No reason to keep him at arm's length.
Just his warmth. His voice. The way his thumb brushes across my knuckles, like it remembers me even if he doesn't.
I breathe in, slow.
And for the first time in what feels like forever, I fall asleep with someone beside me.. without fear.
Just the echo of something old, something sweet, humming under my skin.
Something that feels a little too much like love.