The couch held them like a secret that the world wasn't ready to know. Silence wrapped around them, thick and heavy, like the air before a storm. Every breath they took seemed loud in the quiet room. Every heartbeat felt like thunder.

Vanya lay curled against Viransh's chest, her small frame fitting perfectly in the curve of his larger body. Her cheek pressed against the cotton of his shirt, her ear directly over his heart. *Thump-thump. Thump-thump.* The steady rhythm was like a lullaby she never knew she needed. Each beat seemed to echo through her bones, settling something restless inside her chest.