Chapter 19: Nothing Happened
Day 4 of the Apocalypse
The morning was quiet.
Too quiet.
As if the world had paused—just long enough for regret to bloom.
⸻
Aria stirred slowly.
Her eyelids heavy.
Limbs sore.
Breath finally cool, no longer burning from within.
And yet—
She remembered fire.
And lips.
And a voice that spoke her name like a forbidden wish no god deserved to hear.
"…Selene?"
A soft rustle answered her.
Selene stood near the window, cloaked in silence, armored in calm.
Her silver hair caught the morning light like frost.
Still. Composed. Watchful.
She turned.
"Morning," she said, voice smooth and even.
No warmth.
No guilt.
No trace of heat.
Nothing.
⸻
Aria blinked. "Did I… say anything strange last night?"
Selene gave a faint smile, her eyes unreadable.
"You had a fever. Nothing more."
"But I—"
Her lips tingled.
There was something.
A taste, a ghost of pressure.
A memory wrapped in heat, slipping just out of reach.
Selene crossed the room and knelt beside her, holding out a water bottle like it was routine. Like her hands hadn't once trembled.
"You're better now," she said. "Your power was adjusting. Awakenings like that… they're never gentle."
Aria nodded, sipping slowly.
Her gaze lingered on Selene's face.
But Selene didn't waver.
Didn't blink.
She looked the same.
Strong.
Unmoving.
Untouched.
The mask held perfectly.
⸻
But inside, she was unraveling.
She still felt Aria's mouth on hers.
Still heard her breathless sounds.
Still burned with the memory of those hands clinging like she was the only thing left in the world.
But she locked it away.
Aria didn't remember yet.
Not who Selene was.
Not who she had been.
Not the girl who once died to save her.
And Selene—Selene would not be selfish.
Not yet.
⸻
"Let's move before the streets fill again," she said as she rose.
Aria hesitated.
Something was missing.
She couldn't name it—only feel the hollow space where something soft and wild should've been.
But she followed anyway.
Because Selene's silence haunted her skin.
And the absence of touch hurt more than she was ready to admit.