Chapter 1 — You Felt Like Home
Jeremiah’s POV
Nicole was curled against me on the couch, her head resting lightly on my chest. The late-night city lights filtered through the window, casting shadows across her face. Her breath was slow and even, and I could hear the faint thump of her heartbeat beneath my palm.
I traced lazy circles on her bare shoulder, memorizing the way her skin warmed under my fingertips. Her fingers twined through mine, squeezing gently, as if to remind me she was real.
“Jeremiah,” she murmured, her voice barely above a whisper, “I wish time would just stop right here.”
I smiled, brushing a stray strand of hair behind her ear. “Why?”
“Because when I’m with you,” she said, lifting her head to meet my eyes, “everything feels... okay. Like maybe, just maybe, I can stop running for a minute.”
She kissed me then, slow and soft — the kind of kiss that lingers in your blood, making you forget everything else. For those hours, the world outside didn’t exist. There were no doubts, no lies, no pain — just us.
She wasn’t perfect. No, Nicole was fire — unpredictable, wild, beautiful chaos. But she was mine.
And I was all in.
We stayed up talking about everything and nothing. Late-night junk food wrappers crumpled on the coffee table. Her laugh was my favorite sound. Her name, whispered in the dark, was like a prayer.
For the first time in a long time, I believed in us.
