Seen dangerous.
Seen something to be avoided, pitied, or eliminated.
But Sage looks at me and sees... something else.
Something worth keeping.
Something worth carrying through the halls of Ruthless Academy over his shoulder while everyone watches.
"Sage?"
"Hmm?"
"Thank you."
The words come out quiet.
Sincere.
Stripped of the sarcasm and bravado I usually wrap myself in.
His steps slow.
His hand on my ass gentles.
"For what?"
"For..." I trail off, struggling to find words for something I don't fully understand myself. "For not being embarrassed. By me. By us. By whatever this is."
He stops walking entirely.
For a moment, he just stands there—one hand on my ass, the other wrapped around my thighs, holding me against his shoulder like I weigh nothing at all.
Then he sets me down.
Carefully.
Gently.
My feet find the ground, and I sway slightly—disoriented from being upside down, or maybe just overwhelmed by everything that's happened in the last hour.
His hands find my face.
Cup my cheeks.
Tilt my head up until I'm looking directly into those green-gold eyes that have become distressingly familiar.
"Listen to me," he says, voice low and serious. "I'm not embarrassed by you. I couldn't be embarrassed by you if I tried. You're the most incredible person I've ever met—and I've met a lot of people, Sera. A lot of broken, desperate, dangerous people."
His thumbs stroke across my cheekbones.
"You fight like a dancer and dance like a fighter. You write letters in blood because commitment matters more to you than convenience. You survived three years alone in a place thatdestroys people, and you didn't just survive—youthrived. You earned a townhome through sheer stubborn refusal to die."
His forehead drops to rest against mine.
"And you smell like cotton candy," he whispers. "Like sweetness and chaos and everything I never knew I wanted. So no, I'm not embarrassed. I'm fuckinghonoredthat you let me touch you. That you let me claim you. That you're standing here, right now, looking at me like maybe I'm worth something too."
The tears come before I can stop them.
