I didn't plan to say it.
God, I never do.
It was raining in Paris—classic.
We'd been walking, fighting, circling each other like always.
Until she stopped.
Right there in the middle of the empty street.
Hair soaked. Eyes bright. Mouth parted like she was about to kill me or kiss me again.
"You keep pulling away," she said. "Like I'm the problem. Like this is."
I shook my head, jaw tight. "Because I'm trying to protect you."
She laughed. Cold. "From what? Yourself?"
I looked at her then. Really looked.
Not as a professor. Not as someone I shouldn't touch.
But as the girl who walked into my life like a firestorm.
And I couldn't lie anymore.
"I love you," I said.
The words dropped between us like thunder.
She blinked. Once. Twice.
"I don't know when it happened," I whispered. "Maybe it was that first detention. Maybe the day you told me to shut up and smiled like you meant it. Or maybe I always did."
Her mouth opened, but I wasn't done.
"I love the mess you make of rules. The way you make me feel like nothing else matters when I look at you. I hate how much I need you. And I love you so much it makes me angry."
Silence.
Only the rain.
Then—
She stepped forward.
Wrapped her arms around my neck like she was done running.
"I love you too," she whispered. "So much it scares me."
And just like that—
The fear didn't win.
We did.