Six months had passed like a dream. Erica and Max were now something unspoken-more than lovers, more than best friends. They had become each other's safe haven.
The night was perfect. A little Italian restaurant tucked away under fairy lights, soft music humming in the background, and laughter dancing between wine glasses. Max reached across the table, holding Erica's hand like it was the most precious thing he'd ever touched.
"I never believed in forever," he said quietly, "until I met you."
Erica smiled, her eyes soft. "We're not perfect, Max. But we show up. That means something."
Then came the moment. Two tiny boxes, exchanged with shy excitement. Inside, matching necklaces-simple silver pendants, engraved with their initials. Erica now wore an "M" over her heart, and Max, an "E".
They kissed under the moonlight, holding the kind of silence that only love could fill.
After parting ways, Erica went home, heart still fluttering from the night's magic. She showered, changed, and curled under her blanket, smiling at the necklace now resting on her chest.
But the night had other plans.
The window creaked.
A shadow slipped into her room.
But Erica wasn't asleep.
She felt the shift in the air-the cold, quiet violence of an intruder.
Before she could scream, he lunged.
Dressed in a black hoodie and mask, the man tried to pin her down. But Erica fought. Adrenaline surged as she scratched him-deep, angry claw marks across his arm or neck (she wasn't sure). He grunted in pain.
She screamed.
Footsteps thundered from the hallway.
The man bolted.
Her parents burst in, pale and panicked. Erica trembled as she pointed to the window, voice cracking, "He tried to kill me..."
Police sirens echoed minutes later.
The attacker was gone-but he hadn't left unmarked.
And Erica? She wasn't the same anymore.