It was late, and the world outside her window had gone quiet. The only light in the room came from the string of fairy lights draped above her bed, casting a warm, hazy glow that painted everything in gold and softness.

Hughie sat on the floor with his back against the bed, knees bent, shoulders slouched, close enough to feel her presence behind him on the mattress—close enough to ache. She was cross-legged just above him, watching him in that quiet way she did when she thought he wasn’t paying attention.

They were laughing—some dumb memory from earlier at school, something stupid Joey had said—but then the sound faded, the silence stretching out until it wasn’t so light anymore. It pressed between them, humming with something unspoken.

Hughie shifted, glancing back over his shoulder. His voice, when he spoke, was quiet—so quiet it cut clean through the stillness.

“You kissed me,” he said.

She froze. Blinked. “I—”

“If I had gotten the chance to kiss you first…” He paused, gaze steady on hers. “It would’ve gone a little differently.”

That pulled a smile from her—nervous, coy, a little too curious.

“You can show me,” she murmured, “on one condition.”

His pulse stuttered. “What’s that?”

She didn’t look away. There was something unreadable flickering in her eyes, something fragile.

“You can’t fall in love with me.”

He let out a laugh, but it wasn’t a real one. It cracked in the middle, full of something heavier.

“I won’t,” he promised, quietly. “I swear.”

Her smile didn’t reach her eyes. “You can’t even fall in like with me.”

He was silent for a moment, just looking at her. Then he moved—really moved—turning around until he was kneeling in front of her. His hands found her gently, fingers curling around the back of her thigh with reverence and something just shy of hesitation.

“In that case…” he whispered.

She sucked in a breath as he guided her forward, slow and deliberate, until she had no choice but to shift and settle over him, straddling his lap. Her knees rested on either side of him, her hands braced on his shoulders, and suddenly the air between them was too thick to breathe.

Their hearts thundered in the quiet.

“Our first kiss,” Hughie said, voice low and rough, “should’ve gone something like this.”

And then he kissed her—slow, certain, and devastating.