She didn't try to fight it.
That realisation didn't come all at once. It settled slowly, quietly, like something she only noticed when it was already there.
Lena stood near the window, her gaze fixed on the city below, but she wasn't really seeing it anymore. The lights blurred together, the movement of cars and distant figures becoming nothing more than background noise. Normally, that view would have grounded her. It would have reminded her that the world was still moving, still normal, still something she belonged to.
Now, it just felt… far away.
She exhaled slowly, her fingers curling slightly at her sides.
"This isn't normal," she said, her voice softer than before.
"No."
His answer came from behind her, steady, unchanged.
She closed her eyes briefly, almost annoyed at how predictable that response had become. "You really don't say anything else, do you?"
"It wouldn't change anything."
Lena let out a quiet breath, then turned around, leaning lightly against the edge of the window behind her. "You keep saying that like it's supposed to help."
"It's not meant to help."
"Right," she muttered. "Of course it isn't."
There was a pause, but it didn't feel sharp anymore. It didn't feel like something waiting to break.
It felt… settled.
And that was the part she didn't like.
She pushed herself away from the window and started walking, slow and aimless, more out of restlessness than anything else. Her mind wasn't quiet, but it wasn't racing either. It was stuck somewhere in between, trying to process something it didn't fully understand.
"You said I'd adjust," she said after a moment. "What exactly does that mean?"
"It means you'll stop resisting it."
Her brows pulled together slightly. "That doesn't sound like adjustment. That sounds like losing."
"It isn't the same thing."
"It feels like it."
He didn't answer immediately, and that alone made her glance at him again.
For once, he wasn't just responding without pause.
"You're not losing anything," he said after a moment. "You're understanding it."
She watched him for a second, searching his expression for something—doubt, maybe, or hesitation.
There was nothing.
Of course there wasn't.
"That's easy for you to say," she replied quietly.
"It's the truth."
She looked away again, shaking her head slightly.
Everything he said sounded like it had already been decided, like there was no version of this where she walked out and went back to her life. No version where this didn't become something permanent.
And the worst part—
some part of her was starting to believe that.
She took another step across the room.
Then another.
And the moment the distance between them widened—
it happened again.
That pull.
Stronger this time.
Not painful, but insistent. Like something tightening just enough to make itself known.
Lena stopped mid-step, her breath catching slightly.
"…Okay," she said under her breath. "No. That's definitely not normal."
"It's reacting," he said.
She let out a small, humorless laugh. "I don't like that word."
"It doesn't change what it is."
She turned her head just enough to look at him. "You don't seem bothered by any of this."
"I'm used to it."
"Well, I'm not."
"That will change."
There it was again.
That certainty.
It should have irritated her more than it did.
Instead, it settled somewhere deep in her chest, mixing with that strange, steady pull she couldn't ignore.
Lena exhaled slowly and, without fully thinking about it, took a step back toward him.
The feeling eased.
Not completely.
But enough for her to notice the difference.
Her brows drew together.
"…That's weird," she murmured.
"It's expected."
She looked at him properly now, studying him in a way she hadn't before.
Not just reacting.
Actually paying attention.
"You keep saying things like I'm supposed to just accept them," she said. "Like they're facts."
"They are."
"That's not how this works."
"It is now."
She held his gaze for a moment longer, then shook her head slightly.
"You're impossible."
"I've been told."
That made her pause.
Again.
Because there it was—that slight shift. Subtle, but real. Something almost resembling awareness.
"…I'm not surprised," she said.
Another quiet moment passed between them.
But this time, it didn't feel tense.
It felt… different.
Lena became aware of how close she was now.
Closer than before.
Close enough that the pull in her chest wasn't stretching anymore. It wasn't tightening or resisting.
It was steady.
Calm.
Her breath slowed slightly without her meaning it to.
"…Does it always feel like this?" she asked.
"Yes."
"That's… not great."
"No."
She let out a small breath, her gaze drifting for a second before returning to him.
"You're not even trying to make this sound better."
"It isn't meant to be better."
"That's a terrible strategy."
"It's an honest one."
She huffed softly, though there was no real frustration behind it this time.
Just something quieter.
Something she didn't have a name for yet.
Lena shifted her weight slightly, her arms no longer tightly crossed, her posture no longer defensive.
And that—
that was new.
"…I should still be trying to leave," she said.
"Yes."
"I'm not."
"No."
"And that doesn't bother you?"
"It means the bond is settling."
Her chest tightened slightly at that.
"Settling," she repeated.
"Yes."
She looked away again, her thoughts slowing in a way that felt unfamiliar.
"This isn't something I can control, is it?"
"No."
The answer came without hesitation.
And for the first time—
she didn't argue.
She didn't try to push back.
She just nodded slightly, more to herself than to him.
"…Right."
The word came out quiet.
Not defeated.
Not angry.
Just… real.
Another silence followed, but it didn't feel heavy anymore.
It felt still.
Like something had already shifted into place.
Lena's gaze drifted back to the window, but she didn't move toward it this time.
She stayed where she was.
Close enough to feel it.
Close enough that the distance no longer pulled.
And slowly, almost without noticing—
her body stopped resisting completely.
"…This is insane," she said softly.
"Yes."
She didn't respond.
Didn't argue.
Didn't question it.
She just stood there, aware of him in a way she hadn't been before.
Not just physically.
Not just because he was in the same room.
But because something inside her—
something she didn't understand—
was already responding to him.
And for the first time—
it didn't feel like something being forced on her.
It felt like something she was beginning to accept.
Even if she didn't want to admit it.