Subaru didn’t know how long they stayed like that—his arms wrapped around her, her cheek pressed to his shoulder, the fire slowly burning down to glowing embers beside them. Time felt suspended, held in the quiet space where their breaths mingled and their hearts slowly settled into the same rhythm.

  He was still trembling a little, not from cold, but from everything else. The weight that had haunted him since they left—the guilt, the fear, the ache of all the people he had turned his back on—it hadn’t vanished. But here, wrapped in her arms, it felt just a little lighter.

  Rem didn’t speak. She just held him, patient as always. Her hands moved slowly up and down his back, steady, grounding. Her touch didn’t chase away the pain. It simply told him he didn’t have to bear it alone.

  Eventually, Subaru pulled back just enough to look at her again. The way the firelight danced across her face made her look impossibly soft. Her eyes were half-lidded with warmth and quiet understanding.

  He wanted to say something, to tell her what it meant to him that she’d chosen this path—him—when she could have had anything else. But the words tangled in his chest. He wasn’t used to being chosen. Not without conditions. Not completely.

  Rem, as always, saw through him.

  “You’re thinking too much again,” she whispered, a small smile tugging at her lips.

  Subaru huffed, the corner of his mouth twitching. “Guess I haven’t figured out how to stop doing that.”

  “You don’t have to stop.” She reached up and gently brushed her thumb beneath his eye. “Just let Rem be part of the thoughts.”

  He leaned into her touch, eyes fluttering closed. “I think you’re already the whole damn thought.”

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  Her laugh was quiet, light enough that it might have floated away if not for the way it filled his chest with warmth.

  “Subaru-kun always says things that make my heart skip,” she murmured.

  “Good,” he said, opening his eyes again. “Because I’ve got a lifetime of them waiting.”

  A sudden wind passed through the trees, and Rem shivered slightly. Subaru noticed immediately and slid his jacket off without thinking, draping it over her shoulders.

  “Come on,” he said gently. “Let’s lie down before the fire dies. We’ll warm up together.”

  She nodded, and they moved to the bedroll they'd laid out on the grass earlier—simple and thin, but enough for now. They nestled together beneath the blanket, Subaru pulling it over their shoulders as Rem curled up beside him. She was facing him, her knees tucked lightly against his, her head resting near his chest.

  The sounds of the forest filled the silence: the chirping of crickets, the rustling of branches, the slow breath of wind through leaves. It wasn’t quiet, not completely, but it was peaceful.

  Subaru reached up, brushing her bangs aside, and looked into her eyes.

  “Rem… are you really okay with this?” he asked softly. “With me?”

  She didn’t answer right away. Instead, she slid her hand up to rest over his heart.

  “I’m more than okay,” she said. “I’m happy.”

  Subaru swallowed, and something thick lodged in his throat. He hadn’t known happiness could feel this fragile—like if he moved too quickly or said the wrong thing, it might break apart in his hands.

  But Rem held it with both of hers, so gently that it made him believe maybe it wasn’t going to disappear.

  “I promise,” he said, voice low, “I’ll make this life worth something. Even if it’s quiet. Even if we never do anything grand again. I want to make you proud.”

  “You already do,” she whispered. “You did, the moment you chose this life with me.”

  He smiled and leaned forward, pressing his forehead against hers again. No words this time—just closeness. Just breath and heartbeat and the warmth of skin against skin.

  They drifted into sleep slowly, tangled together beneath the blanket. Subaru held her hand beneath the covers, their fingers entwined. And for the first time in what felt like years, sleep came to him without resistance. No screams in his head. No shadows clawing at his mind.

  Just her.

  Just this.

  To be continued...