Savannah let out a long breath and stared at the ceiling again, trying to ground herself in something steady. Her mind was still buzzing, still hot around the edges, but she wasn’t falling apart anymore.
Tilly lay on their side watching her with that soft, unreadable expression that made her feel seen in a way she hadn’t expected.
Savannah swallowed. Her voice came out quieter than she meant. “Do you… Want me to do something for you?”
Tilly blinked, surprised. “What do you mean?”
Savannah’s face flushed hot. “I mean… after everything you just did for me, I don’t want you to feel like this was one-sided. I could… I mean, if you want…”
She couldn’t finish the sentence. Her tongue felt thick. Her stomach twisted.
She’d never offered anything like that this gently before. Never this carefully. Never with stakes this high.
Tilly’s expression shifted, not rejecting, not uncomfortable — more like touched and a little sad.
“Savannah,” they said softly. “You don’t have to do anything.”
“I know,” she whispered. “I just thought… maybe you’d want—”
“I don’t,” they said gently, cutting her off before she could tie herself in knots.
Savannah went still. “Did I do something wrong?”
“No.” Tilly shook their head. “Nothing’s wrong. I’m good with just giving.”
Savannah’s breath hitched. “Oh.”
She wasn’t sure what she’d expected. Not that, exactly. Her pulse fluttered nervously.
“I didn’t know,” she said quietly.
“You weren’t supposed to,” Tilly said, voice warm. “I would’ve told you when it mattered. I’m telling you now.”
Savannah chewed the inside of her cheek, thinking. “So you really don’t want me to…?”
“I promise,” Tilly said. “I don’t need anything. Being with you is enough.”
The words hit her hard. Not sexual. Emotional. Heavy in a way that made her chest ache.
No one had ever said something like that to her. Not without wanting something back. Not without expectation built into it.
It made her eyes prickle.
She turned on her side to face them fully. Tilly watched her, their expression open and steady.
Savannah hesitated.
“Tilly?” she whispered.
“Yeah?”
She swallowed. “Can I… stay here tonight?”
Tilly’s answer settled between them like warm static.
“Yeah. Stay.”
Savannah’s chest tightened, not in panic this time but in something deeper, something she didn’t have a name for yet. She moved closer, slow and unsure, trying not to overthink the way her hands were starting to shake.
