Ami's breath still hitched as Leo helped her into his car, hands shaking as she pulled the seatbelt over her chest.
Leo glanced over, worried but soft, "Are you okay?"
She didn't answer at first. Her eyes were glued to the streetlights blurring past the windshield.
"They touched me," she finally whispered. "I let them. I... wanted to... but not all the way. Not like that."
Leo's brows furrowed. Not in judgment — in protectiveness.
"Ami, did they force you?"
"No," she shook her head. "I said yes. Until I didn't."A pause. "I was… so turned on, but so confused. I froze. And then I ran."
Leo nodded slowly. "That's still valid, Ami. Even if it started as yes. You're allowed to change your mind."
Silence filled the car again. The kind that wasn't awkward — just real.
Ami curled her knees to her chest in the seat, hugging them like a child.
"Do you think…" she hesitated, "if I have sex with a guy, it'll fix it? Like, maybe I won't feel like this anymore?"
Leo pulled the car to the side of the road. Parked it. Turned to her with those kind eyes.
"Fix what exactly?""This... need. This ache. This pull toward girls."
"I don't think you're broken, Ami."
"I haven't even been with a guy before," she admitted, like it was a secret she hadn't even told herself.
Her lips were trembling. Leo gently reached out and held her hand. Warm. Present.
"Do you want to try? With me?" she asked, voice barely audible.
"Only if you really want to. Not just because you're scared of who you might be."
"What if I do it and I don't feel anything?""Then we stop. You deserve to know what you feel — not what someone else tells you to be."
They kissed. Hesitant at first. Curious. Human.
Ami's hands found his jaw, his heartbeat was strong against her palm.
But after a few minutes, she pulled away — panting. Lost. A tear rolled down her cheek.
"I'm sorry… I thought I could. But I can't."
"It's okay," Leo whispered, brushing hair from her face. "It's okay not to be sure."
She opened the door and ran to the nearest taxi. As she sat in the backseat, tears streaming, all she could whisper to herself was:
"What's wrong with me?"
But deep down... something inside her knew it wasn't wrong.It was just complicated. And real. And still unfolding.