Friends

Chapter 46

A/N: Chapter 47-93 along with other exclusive content can be found on my Patreon! 

Marc's POV:

The kiss ends slower than it started.

Her lips linger like they don't want to leave mine just yet. Like they're asking, Are you sure? Are we still okay?

I keep my forehead pressed to hers, both of us breathing the same air. I don't move. I don't rush it. I want her to know that she's not kissing a man who's gonna leave the second he gets what he wants.

"You have no idea," I whisper, "how long I've wanted that."

She pulls back slightly, enough to look at me—really look. Her eyes are still a little glassy from what she just let out, but she's holding herself together. Barely.

"What do you mean?" she asks softly. "That's not our first kiss."

"This is our first kiss that's not fueled with lust," I say. "It's the first time we kissed and I didn't feel like you were trying to disappear into it. Or distract yourself. Or keep me."

She blinks, her lips still parted.

"This one... this one was honest. It was about being seen, not just being wanted."

She exhales slowly. "How long have you been wanting to do that?"

I smile, but it's small. Real.

"Since the day I realized Kendrick didn't know what he had in front of him."

She blinks again. Like she didn't expect that answer.

"I also want to say something about last night," I begin, slower now. Careful. "About why I didn't..." I pause. "Why I didn't take it further."

Her eyes flick up to mine, searching—maybe even bracing for rejection.

"It wasn't just because you were drunk. I mean—yeah, obviously that mattered. But it was more than that."

I step in closer, just enough for my voice to land soft between us.

"I could see it in your eyes, Jas. You weren't reaching for me because you needed me. You were reaching because you thought that's what you had to do. Like giving yourself was the price for being wanted."

She looks away, and I feel her body tense. But I keep going. Gently.

"I know what Kendrick did to you. I see how it's still in you—in the way you try to prove you're worth keeping. But I'm not him. You don't have to earn my presence with your body. I'm here whether we're kissing, talking, or just sitting in silence. You don't have to perform to keep me."

Her shoulders rise and fall like she's holding her breath. And maybe she is.

"I wanted you last night," I admit, voice low. "God, I wanted you. But I also wanted you to know—I'll stay even when I'm not getting anything from you. I'll stay because I see your worth when you're not trying to sell it."

That's when she finally looks back at me.

And I swear—for the first time... she believes it.

"But last night? That wasn't about Kendrick. And I know that. You let me see parts of you I know you don't show anybody. You trusted me. And I'm not gonna pretend I didn't feel that."

She doesn't say anything. Just nods. Slow. Like she's still trying to believe she's allowed to feel that safe.

"And Maria..." I exhale hard through my nose. "She's my past. That's all. Whatever grip she used to have on me—it's gone. Been gone. And I know it probably didn't look like that last night, and I'm sorry. I should've introduced you. I should've shut her down sooner. But I promise you—she's not someone you ever have to compete with. She's not even in the same race."

Jasmine bites her bottom lip, eyes dropping to the floor. "I just hate how fast I went to that place again. That panic. That fear that I wasn't enough."

I reach out, tilting her chin up gently until her eyes meet mine.

"You are enough," I say quietly. "You've always been enough. You just haven't been treated like it. That's not on you."

She stares at me for a long moment. And I can tell—she wants to believe me. She's just scared to.

So I take her hands in mine, threading our fingers together.

"I don't want to save you, Jasmine," I say. "I just want to see you. And if you'll let me, I want to show you what it feels like to be loved without conditions. Without pressure. Without some finish line you have to cross just to feel chosen."

Her lips part slightly. Like she's about to speak—but doesn't.

So I wait.

No rush.

Just... us.

She's quiet for a second longer, like she's letting the moment settle on her skin.

Then she takes a breath. Small, but steady.

"I didn't think someone like you could exist for someone like me," she says, voice soft but clear. "Not after everything Kendrick made me believe."

She swallows hard, like the words are getting stuck on the way out.

"I used to think the way he loved me... the way he used me, ignored me, broke me down—that that was what I deserved. That it was my fault he couldn't love me gently. That if I just did more, gave more, lost more of myself... maybe one day he would."

Her voice doesn't crack—but it's close.

"I didn't think better was real. And if it was... I didn't think I was allowed to have it."

She finally looks at me again.

"But last night, you didn't take anything from me. You didn't use me. You just stayed. And somehow, that gave me everything I didn't know I was missing."

Her thumb brushes over the back of my hand—slow, almost reverent.

"I still don't know how to do this the right way. I don't even know what right is. But I want to try—with you."

A pause, then her voice softens to a whisper:

"Because when you look at me... I don't feel like I'm too much. I don't feel broken. I feel... safe."

I squeeze her hand, thumb brushing gently across her knuckles.

"You are safe," I say. "With me, always."

She leans into me, resting her forehead against my chest. I hold her there, not saying anything, just letting us breathe in the quiet for a minute—like the silence finally feels earned.

But there's one thing I still haven't said.

And I know I have to.

I press a soft kiss to the top of her head, then pull back just enough to look her in the eyes.

"There's one thing I need to do," I say carefully. "Something I should've done a long time ago."

She looks up at me, brows slightly furrowed.

"I need to talk to Maria."