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Tess woke slowly, the soft light of dawn filtering through the blinds and casting thin shadows across the room. She blinked, disoriented at first, until she registered the unfamiliar warmth beside her. Zara.

Tess turned her head to glance at the woman sleeping next to her, tangled in the sheets, hair spilling across the pillow. Zara was still asleep, her face relaxed, the usual intensity Tess had grown accustomed to completely gone.

Tess let her fingers brush lightly over the sheet, tracing the edge of Zara’s arm where it rested on the bed. The night had been intense—both the conversation and everything that followed. Their physical connection had been immediate, but it felt more significant than that. It felt… natural, inevitable, as if they had been moving toward this moment for longer than either of them realised.

A familiar twinge of doubt crept in. Was this too soon? Was this just a one-night thing, a release of tension after everything they’d been through with The Eclipse? Even as the thought crossed her mind, Tess knew it wasn’t that simple. Not with Zara.

Just then, Zara stirred beside her, her breathing shifting as she blinked awake. Tess froze for a moment, then relaxed, watching as Zara adjusted to the morning light. Their gazes met. Tess braced herself for a hint of regret in Zara’s eyes.

But Zara simply smiled—a small, sleepy grin that sent a jolt of warmth through Tess.

‘Morning,’ Zara murmured, her voice raspy with sleep.

Tess couldn’t help but return the smile, her heart swelling. ‘Morning.’

As Zara stretched, Tess noticed the subtlest tensing on her face.

‘You alright?’ Tess asked, her voice soft, sensing the thoughts racing in Zara’s mind.

Zara let out a short laugh, shaking her head slightly. ‘Yeah.’

Tess raised an eyebrow. ‘You look a little bit panicked.’

Zara’s surprise was evident. ‘Wow. You’re good.’

‘What’s up? You wonder if we should have done this?’

Zara sighed, her expression shifting. ‘That’s not what I was thinking.’

Tess felt a wave of relief wash over her. ‘OK.’

Zara hesitated, then decided to be honest. ‘I was just thinking about how this happened fast and slow at the same time. I guess I’m just trying to catch up. It feels like the time I was in three different time zones in one week.’

‘You’ve got romantic jetlag?’ Tess asked.

Zara snorted. ‘That’s a way to put it.’

Tess’s expression softened, her smile widening slightly. ‘If you’re having second thoughts, I’m not going to take it personally.’ She paused. ‘No, that’s a lie. I will obviously take it a bit personally. But just say it.’

‘It’s not second thoughts. But we talked about a lot of big stuff. If it doesn’t mean what I think it means…’

‘What do you think it means?’ Tess asked.

‘That we’re both trying to see where this goes?’ Zara said quietly.

Tess didn’t know exactly what Zara meant by that. Nor did she know precisely how she herself felt. The only thing she knew was that she liked going to bed with Zara, and she liked waking up with her.

‘Where it goes?’ Tess asked. She just wanted a little more clarity.

Zara cringed. ‘You know what? It’s fine. We don’t need to have some big thing.’

Tess realised how her words could sound to Zara. Like she was disinterested. And she wasn’t that.

Tess had to say something that reassured Zara without going too big. ‘Hey, here’s the thing…’ She smiled as confidently as she could muster. ‘I like you. And you like me, right?’

Zara smiled. ‘Yeah.’

‘So that’s where we are,’ Tess said.

‘Yeah. OK,’ Zara replied.

Tess hoped that was the end of the conversation. She couldn’t handle anything more. She just wanted this to be what it was for as long as it would hold.

Before it changed into something more complicated. Or worse, ended.