They say the way to someone’s heart is through their stomach.
But for me, it was through an éclair.
A cursed one.
Maybe.

I don’t know the first time I met Caedia.

I know the first time she remembers meeting me, but I’m pretty sure we met long before that. A hundred times before, maybe. In timelines we both forgot. In moments that burned away in the fire.

But this time—the version where I got to keep her—this one stuck.

And now she’s sitting across from me, hair messy from sleep, oversized hoodie falling off one shoulder, a spoon hanging lazily from her mouth as she taste-tests a new recipe she says is

God, I love her.

She caught me staring. “What?”

“Nothing.” I smiled. “You’ve got sugar on your nose.”

She reached up to wipe it. Missed. “Did I get it?”

“Nope.”

She leaned closer. “Can you get it for me?”

So I kissed her.

Tasted vanilla. And something else.

Fate, maybe.

****

There’s something strange about waking up every day and not knowing the future anymore.

No more flashes. No more loops. No more rewinds.

Just breakfast.

Just coffee.

Just her.

And you’d think that would scare me—someone who’s lived through versions of time he didn’t even understand. But strangely, it doesn’t.

Because I’ve seen what it’s like to lose her.

I’ve seen days where I forgot her name, where she cried behind café counters, where we ended before we even began.

So if the price of this version of her is not knowing what tomorrow looks like?

I’ll pay that every day.

****

Later, as she packs boxes of cookies for delivery and hums some ridiculous pop song under her breath, I scribble something on a napkin.

She notices. “What’s that?”

“A recipe.”

She squints. “For what?”

I hand it to her.

RECIPE FOR FOREVER
– 1 cup of chaos (you)
– 2 spoons of patience (me)
– A dozen burnt attempts
– A pinch of fate
– Mix with kisses.
– Bake in trust.
– Serve warm, every day.

She tears up.

“Helios,” she whispers. “You’re gonna make me cry over a napkin.”

“I made you cry over soup once,” I say. “This is character development.”

She laughs through the tears. “I love you.”

And this time—no time loops, no fire, no visions—I know we’re both here.

Now.

Still choosing each other.