She pulled her hands free, only to wrap her arms around his neck, pulling him into a fierce embrace. His arms instantly tightened around her, holding her as if she were the most precious thing in his universe. 

She could feel the tremor in his body, the rapid beat of his heart against hers.

“Oh, Louis,” she whispered into his shoulder, her voice thick with emotion. “I love you too. I always have. Even when you were distant, even when I was frustrated, I knew there was something extraordinary beneath the surface. I just… I needed you to see it too. To fight for it.”

He pulled back slightly, just enough to look into her eyes, his hands still on her waist. “I will fight, Cheryl. For you. For us. For our art. For every single star we want to create together. I promise you, I will never let her, or my past, come between us again.”

His gaze dropped to her lips, a question in his eyes. Cheryl answered it by rising on her tiptoes, meeting him halfway. 

Their kiss was not gentle or hesitant, but a desperate, consuming fusion of longing, relief, and a promise of a future finally free from the shadows. It was the taste of a universe reborn, a new beginning, fragrant with the scent of hope and unwavering love. 

The chasm between them, once so vast, had finally closed, replaced by a connection as profound and infinite as the cosmos itself.