Your breath hitched slightly as you stayed caught in Noah's hold, his arms firm around your waist like it was the most natural thing in the world.

His room was dim, the kind of quiet that only exists after a long day when everyone’s finally stopped talking. Somewhere deeper in the house, a clock ticked lazily. Outside, the night pressed softly against the windows.

You shifted just enough for your thoughts to catch up with you. Right—this wasn’t just some random sleepover. This was Noah. Your best friend. The one who’d been there through every chaotic year of growing up, every family trip, every behind-the-scenes moment of The Kalogeras Sisters videos. The one who always ended up behind the camera when your sisters were filming, laughing, arguing, existing in that loud, familiar rhythm of yours.

And you? You were the fourth sister. The oldest of the younger trio than Eliana, technically the one who came before her in age, but somehow still tangled right in the middle of everything. Oldest of your own little branch of chaos, yet still just as much part of the collective noise. And Noah had always been right there in it with you.

Now though, it was just… this. You tried to sit up again, trying to escape and go drink water for your throat's sake, but his grip tightened slightly—not forceful, just instinctive. Like he’d half-woken and decided your thirst could wait.

“No, you’re not going anywhere…” he mumbled again, voice rougher this time, like sleep was still clinging to him.

His face was pressed somewhere near your shoulder, warm breath brushing against your skin through your shirt. It should’ve felt like nothing. Normal, even. You’d hugged before. Fallen asleep on couches before. Shared countless late nights after filming.

But something about tonight made it land differently.