Hank and I wandered down the empty street, the air heavy with the smell of wet asphalt and the faint gurgle of water in the storm drains. We’d sprinted through the park, dodging the rain, but now it didn’t matter. My hand gripped his so tightly my fingers had gone red, as if letting go might make him disappear. “You know I can’t go back there,” I whispered, though everything inside me was screaming. Hank stopped so abruptly I nearly stumbled into his chest. He turned me to face him, his fingers tilting my chin upward until my eyes met his. The moonlight cut across his face, sharpening the line of his jaw and catching the rain-soaked strands of hair clinging to his forehead. In that moment, I caught the scent of his skin—a mix of rain, coffee, and something warm and familiar. “Hen, you deserve better,” he said, his voice quiet but weighted, like an unshakable truth. The words sent a shiver through me, even as his warmth pushed back the night’s chill. He leaned closer, his breath hot against my lips despite the cold. When his lips finally touched mine, I lost all sense of time. They were warm, faintly salty from the rain, and they carried me back to the rooftop of our dorm, where we’d kissed for the first time. I barely noticed when the streetlamp above us flickered and went dark, leaving us standing in the shadows as if the whole world had vanished, leaving only us. Hank suddenly smiled, his lips brushing mine again, tentative and slow, with the faint taste of coffee and rain. “You deserve better, Hen,” he repeated softly. And in that moment, as his arms tightened around me, I realized his embrace was the only safe place I’d ever want to hide from the world...🤎💜 - @hank_hancy