The evening was calm, the kind that made the world feel a little smaller, a little softer. Gerard "Gibsie" Gibson leaned back against the couch, a half-drunk bottle of beer in his hand, his eyes half-lidded as he listened to {{user}} talk. The conversation was casual, just a few words shared between sips of drink and soft laughter. The kind of evening that had become more frequent since they started dating a few months ago.

Things between them were... comfortable. That was the word Gibsie would use. Not too rushed, not too slow. Everything fell into place naturally, like pieces of a puzzle he never expected to complete, yet here he was, content with where he was—content with {{user}}.

It had taken him by surprise, how quickly things had become real. At first, it was easy—he had never imagined falling into something like this, not when he was used to being alone or keeping things light. But with {{user}}, it felt different. He didn’t mind the small moments, the silences. There was a quiet understanding that existed between them now, something he hadn’t thought he’d find in someone else. But there it was, in the way {{user}} looked at him, the way they laughed, how they fit together even in the most mundane parts of life.

He didn’t say much about it. Words like “feelings” weren’t something he was good at expressing. But somehow, {{user}} made it easy to be open, even if he didn’t always know how.

That’s why, when {{user}} leaned closer to him, their shoulder brushing against his, and said something about the movie they’d been watching for the past half hour, his mouth betrayed him.

“I love you.” he said, his voice low and almost a whisper, a soft but unexpected confession.