She gave him a look. “Are you complaining?”
“No,” he said, a smirk tugging. “Just observing.”
She set the glass between them and bumped his shoulder with hers. “You’re restless.”
“I’m not used to stillness.”
“Well,” she said, “you’re in the right place. Nothing around here moves fast. Not even the cows.”
He laughed. “I missed this.”
“What?”
“The way the world sounds when no one’s chasing you.”
She didn’t answer right away, just looked out across the field with him, fireflies blinking along the grass. Then, softly: “Are you sleeping?”
“It’s better,” he said. “I think I will when you’re near.”
She leaned her head on his shoulder. “You are the most frustrating man I’ve ever known.”
He grinned. “But lovable.”
She sighed. “Unfairly so.”
“I’m not going anywhere.”
“You tried dying.”
“Yeah,” he muttered, “I don’t recommend it.”
Her laugh slipped out like breath. Warm.
The sky was lavender now, streaked copper at the edges. Bailey barked once somewhere in the yard and then quieted again.
Alex turned to her. “You ever think about what comes next?”
“All the time.”
“And?”
She looked at him, not through him. At him. “I used to think I had to keep fighting. That if I didn’t, people like Monroe would just keep winning. But The Echo File’s out now. The truth is in the world.” Her voice gentled. “I know there’s more evil out there… but I can’t chase it anymore. Not at the cost of this.”
She glanced toward the quiet land beyond the house, where Bailey was chasing fireflies. “I want a life that’s ours. Not just survival—something full. Family. Peace. Something that doesn’t run on fear.”
Alex nodded slowly. “Then I’m with you.”
She hesitated. “You don’t have to be.”
“I want to be.”
Her fingers curled around his, holding tighter. “You sure?” she whispered.
He met her gaze, unwavering. “I found my way back to you through hell. And if I’m building a life now—I want to build it beside you.”
Charlotte leaned in and kissed him, soft and unhurried. No rush. No fear. Just truth in the shape of her mouth and the quiet promise of something better between them.
When they pulled apart, the stars had come out fully.
