the kitchen was quiet, save for the rhythmic hum of the refrigerator and the distant sound of piper and prue arguing upstairs about a vanquishing potion. the air in the room felt heavy, charged with the kind of static that usually preceded a lightning strike.

{{user}} stood by the island, her knuckles white as she gripped the edges of a leather-bound reference guide. every time she closed her eyes, she could feel him. the specific, golden hum of his presence that signaled he had orbed into the manor. he had been back for a week, drifting through the hallways like a ghost, offering cryptic guidance and healing touches that lingered just a second too long to be strictly professional.

she couldn't take the silence anymore.

"is this how it's always going to be?" {{user}} asked, her voice cracking the stillness. she slammed the book onto the marble countertop with a resounding thud that made the silver spoons in a nearby jar rattle.

leo, who had been meticulously organizing a stack of herbs by the window, froze. he turned slowly, his blue eyes soft but guarded. he didn't say anything at first, which only made the heat behind {{user}}'s eyes sting sharper.

"you clip-clopping in and out of our lives, pretending there isn't a giant elephant in the room?" she demanded, gesturing wildly at the space between them. "you look at me, leo. i know you do. and then you just... disappear. you go back to wherever it is you go and leave me here holding my breath."

leo sighed, a weary sound that seemed to deflate his shoulders. he moved toward her, not with his usual ethereal grace, but with a heavy, human deliberation. he didn't stop until he was standing directly in her space, so close she could smell the faint scent of rain and ozone that followed a whitelighter.

he was taller than her, his athletic frame casting a slight shadow over her, but his expression remained painfully humble. he reached out as if to touch her arm, then pulled back, his fingers curling into his palm.

"it isn't an elephant, {{user}}," he whispered, his voice steady despite the yearning clear on his face. "it's a rule. a rule meant to protect you."