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“It didn’t make me stronger,” I say. “It just taught me to hide better.”

I glance down at our fingers intertwined as her thumb sweeps back and forth across my wrist.

“I think the first time I really saw you,” I murmur, eyes watching a cloud move across the sky, “you were dancing around barefoot in your backyard. Your hair was a mess, arms out, as you spun your dress around. Laughter ringing out into the world, lighting up everything it touched.”

She blinks, her breath hitching.

“Our yards back up to each other, remember? I was only a few doors down.” My voice is soft, wistful.

“I used to sit and watch you from my room. Not in a creepy way, more out of envy. I didn’t have anything like that in my life.

I wanted to be as carefree, alive, and happy as you were.

To laugh without holding back, to be so unapologetically me. ”

I huff out a faint, almost bitter laugh. “I think I started falling for you the moment I watched you walk out with your mom’s massive flower book when you were far too young to read the words. I’ve been falling every day since then, I just didn’t know it.”

I reach across, brushing away her tears, “This little ray of sunshine that always brightened my day, even when she didn’t know it.”

She doesn’t speak. Can’t. The weight of my words sinking into her like the light onto the water. The sun shifts, just a little, catching the glass of the compass I hooked to my pants. The flare ran across her face, drawing her eye down to it.

The compass.

Hooked to my belt loop, her fingers slowly move toward it. Almost like she’s afraid to touch it. The leather-wrapped sides brushing against her skin as she unhooks it. Flipping it over in her hand, the engraved words are almost whispered as she mouths them. You know how to find me.

She lifts her eyes to mine. “This was you,” she breathes.

My smile is tentative. “It’s always been me.”

I reach out, my fingers ghosting over the compass laying in her hand.

It’s as precious to me as she is. I flip it over as I whisper, “I knew I couldn’t tell you who I was, at least not then.

I knew you weren’t ready for it.” My throat is straining around the emotion.

“But I wanted you to know it was real, that you weren’t imagining me or the feelings you were having.

I wanted you to know that there was a pull between us and you weren’t alone in feeling it. ”

Selene’s breath catches as her thumb rubs along the side of the leather.

“I chose a compass because…you were always my true north. I knew as long as I had you, I would never feel lost again. You would always guide me home. Because my home isn’t a place, but a person.”

I watch as she swallows hard, the wind tugging at her hair.

“The symbol…” I flip over the compass before tracing the infinity symbol with my finger. “It’s math, sure, but it means far more than that. Do you know why it’s used in love?” I quirk an eyebrow at her.

She shakes her head slowly, watching my finger trace along the symbol.

“It stands for endless. Unbreaking. Constant. For there is no beginning and no end. For eternity, your love shall exist.” My voice drops, raw words pulling from my soul. “You’ve always been a constant for me, even when you didn’t know it.”

Her hand tightens around the compass as her thumb continues to trace down the side of the leather. She doesn’t look at me right away, but I see it…her walls start to fall.

“I used to dream about you,” she says softly.

“I didn’t know it was you, just the shadow with crystalline blue eyes begging me to find them.

Each night I would chase after you, just wishing that you would tell me who you were.

Your whispered words haunting me when I awoke.

” Her eyes flick up to meet mine, the green rim around her irises catching in the afternoon light.

“I thought it was just a dream, just my imagination running wild. I almost believed that you were just a figment of my imagination, my dream to find my mate. Someone who wants me, sees me, and understands me without needing me to explain every piece of myself.”

My wolf stills, ears forward. Even my breath feels loud in the space between us.

She laughs, but there’s no humor to it. “I thought I was broken when no other guys seemed attractive to me. That I didn’t look at other guys and want them.

All these other teens were out exploring each other, and I was wandering the woods alone.

I used to ask the Goddess every day for someone who would see me and love me for me. ”

She finally looks up at me. Her eyes are full of vulnerability. “All this time…you’ve been right here only a few doors down.”

I swallow hard, my chest aching. Another piece of me finally clicking together after so long of feeling out of place.

“I see you,” I tell her, voice thick. “I always have.”

We wipe our faces like we’re brushing off the weight of everything we just said, both of us laughing a little. As if our hearts weren’t just cracked wide open, we try to bring ourselves back to the lighter side.

She leans into me, and I fold her against my chest as I lay us back onto the blanket.

The wildflowers and tall grass completely guard us from the rest of the world.

We lay there in the silence, her fingers clutched around the compass as it lays on my chest. Our heads tilted towards the sky as we watch the cotton ball clouds move with grace across the bright blue sky.

I can’t help but watch her instead of the sky. The way her eyelashes flutter as she blinks slowly. The slow rise and fall of her chest as she relaxes against me.

Like the photos she takes, I wish I could stop time right here.

Right now.

With us right here in this field.

But deep in my soul there’s a steady thrum that tells me the truth:

This is only the beginning.