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October 14, 2028 - Saturday

I have had a migraine for days.

Through the numbness, I hear the doorbell ringing from my bedroom. It's already dark outside, the night draping itself over the trees and adding an eerie stillness to everything in the house. Ever since I lost communication with Peter, I've been keeping all of the lights on all the time, no matter how much it hurts my head. When it's dark, I'm afraid I will see him in the shadows, a visible memory. I tread softly over to the panel that controls the lighting in the entire house, making sure the lights are at their brightest capacity.

The doorbell keeps ringing, the person on the other side of the door getting just as impatient with me as I am with them for disturbing me.

"I'm not interested in whatever you're selling," I say as I open the door, and my heart stops dead in my chest. "Peter?"

He smiles at me. His hair is wet, longer than it used to be, and he smells like smoke and his cologne. "Isa," he says, breathless, and my heart swells.

He nearly falls backward from the force with which I hug him, laughing softly. "I missed you so much. Why- why haven't I heard from you?" I ask. Instead of answering me, he kisses me, his mouth warm and sweet. I forget about my migraine and all of my questions and I kiss him back. He has come home to me.

I forgot how it felt to be with Peter; the heavy breathing, the soft moans, the burning passion that I thought disappeared the day he did. Afterward, we stay wrapped up in each other until we fall asleep. For the first time in months, I am at peace.