Our footsteps echoed slowly as Damian and I walked up the steps to the entryway of our resting point for the night. Once inside, we find ourselves surrounded by a gentle silence. There is a faint sound of dripping water echoing in a distant corner of the room, which adds to our now tranquil environment.

I take a glance around to find that floor lamps with warm-toned bulbs have been strategically placed around the room to create a lighting scheme that invites inhabitants to unwind.

I take a long, deep breath and close my eyes to listen to the silence that surrounds us. This was the first peaceful moment I've had in hours and I make sure to savor it.

After taking in the much-needed moment of peace, I open my eyes to find them locked with Damian's. I can almost feel the room's atmosphere become charged with a palpable tension and I immediately turn my head away to avoid any awkwardness. 

Still, the one-room home was small and, even though I've turned my head away, Damian and I have nowhere else to stand but in the center of the room and it isn't long before our gazes lock again. This time I didn't look away.

As our gazes remained locked, the air between Damian and I began to crackle with undeniable chemistry. Silence still enveloped us, which allows me to hone in on the sound of our hearts beginning to beat faster.

Again, I turn away. It wasn't that I didn't want to be close to Damian or that I didn't want to share a kiss with him; it was the fear of the unknown that made me pull away. Would I ruin everything by giving into my feelings? Would any hope of Damian and I saving the underground and fighting for a better future be compromised?

Suddenly, I feel Damian reach his hand out to cup my cheek and my breath becomes caught in my throat. I continued to question whether this would be a right decision and wondered if I was even ready to open myself up to the vulnerability that a kiss would bring. A part of me wants to give into the desire and let myself be swept away in the moment, while another part of me clings to my reservations.
Against all intuition, I make the decision to lean into Damian's touch and I savor the warmth and tenderness of his hand against my cheek.

I make my eyes meet his again and I listen as our breaths mingle in the narrow space between us. The anticipation makes my body feel electric as it sends a current of nervousness through it.

Finally, our lips meet in a tender and heartfelt kiss and I close my eyes to surrender myself to the moment. Time seems to stand still as Damian and I lose ourselves in the warmth of our newly discovered connection. It was a kiss filled with a sense of longing and was the culmination of emotions that had been building between Damian and I.

As we pull away, our eyes meet again, this time filled with a newfound depth of affection. And in this moment, as Damian and I remain standing in our sleeping quarters, I realize that I have truly found something, someone, special. Suddenly, the home had become a temporary sanctuary, a place where our connection could continue to bloom safely for the night.

As the night goes on, Damian and I continue to deepen our fresh connection with stories of each other's past and hopes for the future. Amidst the laughs and close moments that encompass the next couple of hours, I allow a sense of relief to wash over me. I felt a sense of safety and belonging with Damian and had found myself opening up to him in ways I hadn't with anyone else before. Our shared trauma had created a space for each of us to be our authentic selves and we were growing to love each other for it.

I was appreciative of the serene night I was sharing with my new beloved, but I knew that this night was only temporary. In the morning, Damian and I would become acquainted with reality as we begin to put our plan to action.

I silently rest my head on Damian as I shut my eyes and hope to sleep. The plan we had discussed earlier would require careful execution and the stakes were high, but with Damian by my side I now had an even stronger sense of courage.

As I drifted off to sleep, my dreams were filled with visions of the united underground community working together to protect and defend. I dreamt about our soon-to-be attained defense team standing strong and guarding the hatches with unwavering commitment. We would defend this community and then we would ignite a rebellion to end the capax test—I was sure of it.