Page 101 of Back to You
If I move even an inch closer, if I let the pull between us win, we’ll be kissing.
“I love you,” he murmurs, like a vow, like a promise.
I close my eyes, my hands curling into the fabric of his shirt. “I love you too.”
Now, saying it isn’t a risk—it’s a certainty.
CHAPTER 48
Mariana
The midday sun streams through the blinds, painting soft lines of light across Sebastian’s kitchen. The scent of coffee lingers, mixing with the fresh crispness of laundry and the faint trace of his body wash—the one that somehow always smells impossibly good.
It’s been a couple of weeks now, and for the first time in a long time, I feel like I can breathe. Like I’m not waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Things between us have been… easy. Natural. The way they used to be, but somehow different, too—stronger, more certain. I don’t feel like I’m walking on a tightrope anymore, bracing for the fall.
Instead, I feel grounded. Safe.Home.
Maybe that’s because I’ve finally started letting myself believe that I deserve this. That I don’t have to carry everything alone anymore.
Therapy has helped.
It’s strange, talking to someone who isn’t family, isn’t a friend—someone who doesn’t already know all the ways I’ve built my walls. But it’s also… freeing.
I don’t have to soften the truth for a stranger. I don’t have to pretend I have it all figured out. I can just say things out loud, things I’ve buried for so long, and let them exist without the weight of guilt pressing on my chest.
I cradle my coffee mug in both hands, my fingers curled around the warmth, letting it seep into my skin. Across from me, Maya swings her legs from her seat, a piece of toast in one hand, her curls bouncing with every excited movement.
Sebastian leans against the counter, scrolling through his phone, still in his worn athletic shorts and a loose T-shirt, his hair tousled from sleep. He’s completely at ease, unhurried, like there’s nowhere else he needs to be.
Something in me loosens at the sight, a quiet warmth unfurling in my chest.
Therapy hasn’t erased the past. It hasn’t magically made the grief or the scars disappear. But it’s given me something I didn’t even realize I needed—a way to move forward.
"Tío Sebaaaaa," Maya drawls dramatically, dragging out his name like it’s a royal decree.
"Hmm?" Sebastian barely looks up from his phone, but there’s a ghost of a smirk on his lips, like he already knows where this is going.
"You promised we’d go on an adventure today," she reminds him, her tiny hand smacking the table for emphasis.
Sebastian sighs, finally setting his phone down. "Did I?"
"Yes!" she insists, eyes wide with determination. "And you can’t break a pinky promise. Ever."
I bite back a smile at the absolute seriousness in her little voice. Across the table, Sebastian makes a show of scratching his chin, feigning deep thought.
"Hmm. Are you sure I promised?"
Maya gasps, outraged, her tiny brows furrowing. "TÍO SEBASTIAN," she scolds, pointing an accusing finger at him."You said we were gonna do something fun today, and that means we have to do it."
Sebastian winces dramatically. "Ah, well, if the pinky promise is involved…"
I shake my head, unable to hold back my grin. "Well, it just so happens that I was also thinking an adventure sounded fun today."
Maya gasps again, eyes darting between us. "Really?"
I nod. "Really."
