As we head back downstairs, I catch Mom humming what sounds like a wedding march, but somehow not the traditional one—something older, more mystical. The tune follows us down the stairs, wrapping around us like a blessing.

"Your mom is incredible," Eli whispers once we're back in my room. "It's like she..."

"Knows everything before it happens?" I finish. "Yeah, she's always been like that. But never quite this... obvious about it." I close the door behind her and Mom leaves for work, the outside door closing with a confident thud.

Eli pulls out the black dress from the duffel bag, holding it up to herself in the mirror. "It's perfect," she says softly. "Everything's perfect." She turns to me, her expression serious. "Scary perfect."

I know exactly what she means. The way everything's falling into place—from our meeting in the cemetery to my mother's apparent preparation for Eli's arrival—it all feels orchestrated somehow. Like we're characters in a story that was written long before we started living it.

"Maybe," I say, watching her gather her hair into a messy bun, "perfect is exactly what it's supposed to be."

She catches my eye in the mirror and smiles that smile that makes my heart stop. "Maybe you're right. Now turn around so I can change—unless you want another show like this morning?" She flashes her eyebrows twice with a cute smile.

I blush furiously and spin around, making her laugh. Even after sharing the shower, even after everything, she still has the power to make me flustered. And somehow, that feels perfect too.

We have a lot to figure out—how to face our former partners, where we'll live, what we'll do next. But right now, in this moment, with Eli humming the same mysterious tune my mother was singing upstairs, none of that seems insurmountable. We'll face it all together, just like Mom said.

Because some things, you know before you know you know them. And I know, with every fiber of my being, that this is exactly where we're supposed to be.

The basement air felt different somehow, charged with an electricity I couldn't quite explain. Maybe it was the lingering humidity from our shared shower, or the way the morning light filtered through that small window, casting gentle shadows across my childhood room. Or maybe it was just her presence, making everything feel more alive, more real.

I stood facing the wall, waiting for Eli to change into the clothes Mom had mysteriously prepared. I tried to focus on the One Piece poster on my wall—anything to keep my mind from wandering back to our shower together.

But instead of hearing the rustle of fabric, I felt her arms snake around my waist from behind. Just like she had at the cemetery, but this time there was an intimacy to it that made my heart skip several beats. She pressed her face between my shoulder blades, nuzzling against me through my t-shirt. Her scent enveloped me completely, making my head swim.

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"Everything okay?" I managed to ask, my voice embarrassingly shaky. My heart was doing its best to escape through my ribcage, and I wondered if she could feel it pounding.

"Mm," she hummed, the sound vibrating against my back. "Just taking in all of you." Her arms tightened around my waist. "I love the way you smell, the way your body is..." She pressed closer, if that was even possible. "And especially the way you get so shy when I get close."

My brain underwent a complete system shutdown and reboot. How was this real? How could anyone be this perfect? This was peak waifu material—the kind of thing that only happened in the most beautifully written romance manga. But here she was, pressed against my back, saying exactly the right things in exactly the right way.

The heat rising to my face could have powered a small city. "I... um..." Words failed me completely. What do you even say when the literal perfect person is holding you and confessing these things?

She laughed softly, the sound muffled against my back. "You don't have to say anything. Just let me hold you."

Something about her words, about the gentle certainty in her voice, broke through my nervousness. I turned around in her embrace, wrapping my arms around her in return. She fit against me perfectly, her head tucking just under my chin like it was made to rest there.

We stood there, holding each other, neither of us counting the seconds or minutes. Time seemed to lose all meaning. The universe itself seemed to pause, as if this moment had been written into the very fabric of reality—an inevitability across all possible timelines.

Her hair tickled my chin, still damp from our shower. I could feel her heartbeat against my chest, matching mine in perfect rhythm. Every point of contact between us felt electric, alive with a kind of energy I'd only read about in my occult studies—the kind of connection that transcended physical reality.

"This feels..." I started, then trailed off, unable to find the right words.

"Right?" she finished, her voice muffled against my chest. "Like everything before this was just practice. Like the universe was just waiting for us to find each other."

"Yeah," I breathed, amazed again at how she could articulate exactly what I was feeling. "Exactly like that."

She pulled back just enough to look up at me, those impossible turquoise eyes capturing mine. The morning light caught them just right, making them look like actual gems. Her lips curved into that perfect smile that I was quickly becoming addicted to.

"You know what would make this even better?" she asked, a hint of shyness creeping into her voice that I hadn't heard before. It made my heart do backflips—how could she be even cuter?

"What's that?" I managed to ask, though I was thoroughly distracted by the way she was looking at me, like I was something precious she'd just discovered.

She bit her lower lip, and I swear my soul left my body for a moment. "Well..." she started, then paused, as if gathering courage. "Before we make any plans or figure anything out... do you think maybe we could..."

The way she trailed off, suddenly uncertain, was so endearing I thought I might actually die on the spot. This goddess of a woman, who'd been nothing but confident and playful all morning, was actually nervous about something. It made her even more perfect, if that was possible.

I squeezed her gently, encouraging her to continue. "We could what?"

She looked up at me through her lashes, a light blush dusting her cheeks. "Could we cuddle on your bed first? It always helps me think clearer."