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I blinked back to the present, my fingers unconsciously grazing the windowsill as I exhaled. That moment still clung to me, as vivid as the day it happened.

"Alec," I muttered, not turning around, knowing exactly what I was doing.

He chuckled softly from behind me, his voice smooth and full of that unmistakable teasing warmth. "Are you still doing this?"

I turned to face him, trying to mask the small, guilty smile tugging at my lips. "Doing what?"

"Pretending," he said with a grin, arms crossed, leaning against the doorway. "Pretending you're some heartbroken widow. What is this, your... thirtieth time this week?"

I sighed dramatically, letting my shoulders slump. "It's an art form, Alec. I have to perfect the performance."

He stepped into the room, his eyes glinting with mischief. "I'm pretty sure your 'performance' is just you looking out windows and sighing every few minutes, hoping I'll catch you and ask if you're okay. It's not fooling anyone, you know."

I gave him my best pout. "Maybe I like the attention."

He snorted. "Yeah, because nothing says 'I'm grieving the love of my life' like dramatically staring out of a window hoping to be interrupted." He raised an eyebrow. "And here I thought you'd at least be a little more subtle about it."

"Subtlety is overrated," I quipped. "Plus, it's hard to be subtle when you're pretending someone's dead for a year."

He stared at me for a long beat, then raised both hands in surrender.

"Okay, okay, I get it. You're the tragic widow who mourns her lost love every day, a tortured soul. But for the last time, I'm right here. You don't need to act like I'm gone."

Jack, of course, chose that exact moment to barge in. "Did I hear someone's heart breaking?" he asked with a wink. "Because it sounds like Cassie's still running that widow routine. Alec, you let her pretend you're dead again?"

I rolled my eyes. "Oh, so now everyone's in on it? Thanks for ruining my dramatic moment, Jack."

The banter spiraled from there, Sophie and Damon joining in with their own quips. The room filled with laughter, light teasing, and warmth.

The sound of everyone’s voices—the teasing, the playful jabs—was like a balm, soothing the ache that had lingered in me for so long.

Alec watched the chaos around us with a quiet smile, before pulling me into his arms. His hands found their familiar place at my back, and as he leaned down, his lips brushed my ear.

“I love you, my mate.” he whispered softly, his voice low and filled with all the emotions he’d never quite put into words before.

I melted into him, feeling the tension in my chest finally release. For the first time in a long time, I wasn’t looking for something beyond the window, something out of reach.

Everything I needed, everything I had been searching for, was right here, in his arms.

As I looked around at the friends who had become family, at the life I had built with Alec at my side, I realized just how much I had healed.

The journey wasn’t over, but for the first time in a long time, I didn’t have to carry the weight alone.

“Well good for you, cause you're stuck with me for a long time.” I whispered back, my voice thick with the emotions I couldn’t quite express.

Alec’s smile was everything. It was soft, it was genuine, and it was home.