Marcel:
She didn’t let go immediately.
When she hugged me, I felt it, not hesitation, not strategy. It was instinctive. Human. The kind of contact that wasn’t about power or claiming.
It was about relief. I didn’t pull away, I didn’t dare do so. I let her be the guide to doing so. I just held her in my arms knowing that this was something that she needed.
So when she finally stepped back, there was something different in her eyes. Not fear. Not suspicion.
Trust.
Fragile. New. But there. And I found myself holding onto that small strand of trust. Because I knew that it didn’t come easily.
The music had resumed fully by then. Conversations restarted in cautious waves. The ceremony was still underway, the tension from Brandon’s intrusion slowly dissolving into something steadier.
I
