Waking up in the morning felt like waking up from a crazy dream. However, when I notice my phone ringing, I quickly realise that none of this was a dream. I mumble a sleepy “Good morning” after picking up, already knowing who calls me without having to look at the screen.

“Good morning, princess. Did I wake you up?” Ayden asks. By the sound of his voice, I’m sure he’s smiling.

“You actually did, yes,” I inform him. When I hear Nadja groaning on the bed next to me, I add, “You also woke up Nadja. She’ll be quite upset with you.”

“Oh no! Let me make that up to you both with an action-filled afternoon for Nadja and a romantic date for you, okay?”

“Is Mr Sunglasses asking you out?” Nadja asks, now looking at me with tired eyes. Ayden chuckles, having heard her question. I quickly nod and Nadja gives me a thumbs-up before turning around and attempting to get a few more minutes of sleep.

“Sounds great, but I think we both need a few more details to dress appropriately,” I tell Ayden. He tells me not to worry about that, that I look beautiful in everything and that it doesn’t matter what I wear. Before I can reply he already hangs up. Putting my phone away again, I try to remember what being close to him felt like to stop myself from overthinking. Somehow, the rushing Light inside of me keeps my head calm.

***

The time until lunch passes quickly, even though Nadja sleeps through most of it. At lunchtime, Lea calls to invite us to eat with her friends. They all seem excited to see us again and quickly explain to us that it’s because everyone’s so happy for Ayden. Nadja, knowing how uncomfortable being the centre of attention makes me, soon tries to turn the conversation to another topic. The girls start asking her about her life and if she ever had someone special in her life. “Yes, I once had a boyfriend but the relationship ended when I noticed that I’m not… into guys,” Nadja explains, getting a lot less confident at the end. I know what her parents think about this and that many of our friends decided to ignore her, so her opening up like that so soon is a big step.

However, the others don’t seem to see any reason for her to suddenly lose confidence, so they ask her if everything’s okay. We tell them about what Nadja went through and they all just seem shocked. “That’s why I love this place, nobody judges you for who you love,” Lea states, giving Nadja a hug. If Nadja hasn’t felt like she belonged here yet, she definitely does now.

Suddenly, two arms wrap around me from behind and I see the world lighting up a bit again. “Sorry, ladies, but I have to steal this beautiful princess away for a few hours,” Ayden says matter-of-factly.

“Are you stealing her away or are you saving her from our afternoon activities?” Lea asks him with a roll of her eyes. Instead of replying, Ayden just pulls me out of my seat and kisses my forehead.

“Careful, your tattoos,” I mumble, gaining a chuckle from him.

“Don’t worry, there are only people like us here,” he explains while hugging me again, letting his tattoos shine brightly. To me, it seems like he’s proud of lighting up like that. What kind of girlfriend would I be to deny him this feeling? Wait… girlfriend? Is he my boyfriend now or how does that work here? His Light basically tells everyone that I’m his perfect match but what does that mean for us? “Hey, what’s going on in that head that gets your Light so wild?”

“You,” I reply while smiling up at him. It doesn’t matter what we are right now as long as we are happy.

While we’re walking away from the others and towards the beach, Ayden constantly lets his hand brush mine until he finally takes it and looks at the tattoos on his arm. “Practice really helps,” he mumbles. Out of instinct, I pull him a bit closer, his arm now touching mine and he faintly lights up. He pulls away a bit again and we watch the Light go out.

“Why did you get these tattoos already if you didn’t light up?” I ask him. 

He looks a bit embarrassed at first, but then he replies, “During the ceremony of the Day of Light, we all light up and I wanted to shine brighter than everyone else. When my friends all found their partners, they got brighter and I tried to compensate with more tattoos.” He chuckles softly, “Besides, they do look great, even when they’re just black.” I can only agree with him, the mandala tattoos suit him. He looks at me as if he’s waiting for another question but right now, my brain is peacefully calm. I don’t need all the answers and I don’t need to understand all of this now. I just want to feel everything.