Chapter 1

I woke up before him, or at least I pretended to.

It was still early. The room was quiet, and the sunlight had barely started coming through the curtains.

I kept my eyes closed.

He was awake.

I could hear him moving around softly, trying not to wake me. I had known him for a while, but somehow I still found myself noticing little things about him.

He had brown hair that was always a little messy in the morning. His brown eyes were deep, almost like you could get lost in them if you stared for too long. His skin was somewhere between tan and fair, and somehow the morning light made him look softer.

He reminded me of the ocean.

Calm when he was around people he loved. Quiet, patient, and easy to be around.

But I had seen the other side of him too.

When someone he cared about was hurt, or even close to being hurt, he changed. Like the ocean during a storm. Rougher. Stronger. Almost impossible to calm down.

I admired that about him.

Maybe a little more than I should.

I never told him.

He had his own choices, his own feelings, and I respected them. So I kept mine to myself.

I felt him sit nearby.

For a moment, I almost opened my eyes.

Instead, I stayed still and listened to the quiet.

Sometimes, keeping something hidden didn't mean it wasn't important.

It just meant you cared enough not to make it someone else's problem.