Seventh time loop(challexAnne)
Title: The Seventh Time Loop
Anne had lived this moment before.
The scent of cinnamon and sugar in the air. The soft chime of the bakery’s bell. The crisp autumn wind curling through the open door. And then—Challe stepping inside, silver hair catching the golden light, emerald eyes searching for something he couldn’t name.
The first time, she thought it was a dream. The second time, a strange case of déjà vu. By the third, she knew the truth: she was trapped in a loop.
For six lives now, she had watched Challe come and go. Sometimes he stayed longer, sometimes he left too soon. But in every loop, no matter what she did—whether she confessed her love, held him close, or tried to push him away—he always disappeared in the end.
But this was the seventh time. And Anne refused to let history repeat itself.
This time, she didn’t hesitate. As soon as Challe walked through the door, she met his gaze with determination.
“You always leave,” she said.
Challe blinked, surprised. “What?”
“You always leave me, Challe.” Her voice was steady, but her fingers tightened around the cloth she was holding. “But not this time.”
Something in his expression shifted. His hand hovered near the counter, his usual air of quiet detachment faltering. “Anne… what are you talking about?”
She hesitated. What if he didn’t remember? What if she was alone in this? But no—she had tried silence before. It had never saved him.
Taking a deep breath, she stepped closer. “This is the seventh time I’ve lived this day. Every time, you come in here. Every time, I fall for you. And every time, you vanish before I can stop you.”
Challe stiffened. Then, slowly, his lips parted. “Seventh…?” His voice was quiet, almost unsure. But his eyes—the way they flickered with something familiar—told her he knew.
“You remember,” she whispered.
A long silence stretched between them. Then, finally, Challe exhaled. “I didn’t at first. But now… bits and pieces. Flashes of you. Of this place. Of—” He hesitated, looking down. “Of losing you.”
Anne’s heart clenched. So he knew. He had lost her, too.
This time, she reached for him first. Her fingers curled around his wrist, warm and firm. “We can change it, Challe. We don’t have to keep losing each other.”
He looked at her hand, then at her. And for the first time in all seven loops, he smiled—not a small, fleeting one, but something deep, something real.
“Then let’s get it right this time.”
And just like that, the cycle shattered.
This time, Challe stayed.
Later~
The weight of six lost lives lifted from Anne’s shoulders as Challe’s fingers closed over hers. The bakery felt warmer, the scent of cinnamon and vanilla wrapping around them like an embrace. This time, he stayed.
And oh, how wonderful it was.
The first morning after breaking the loop, Anne woke up expecting the cruel pull of time dragging her back. But instead, she found sunlight streaming through the curtains, dust particles dancing in the golden glow. And beside her, seated on the windowsill, was Challe—his silver hair slightly tousled, his emerald eyes softer than she had ever seen them.
“You’re still here,” she murmured, voice thick with sleep.
Challe turned, the corner of his lips twitching. “You sound surprised.”
Anne pushed the blanket aside and padded over to him. “I half-expected time to rewind the moment I blinked.” She hesitated, then reached out, gently brushing her fingers against his sleeve, needing the reassurance of his warmth. “But you really stayed.”
His hand covered hers, calloused but careful, grounding her in the present. “I told you,” he murmured, tilting his head just enough for his forehead to brush against hers. “We’re getting it right this time.”
And they did.
Challe wasn’t used to staying in one place, but with Anne, he found himself lingering. He helped her open the bakery in the mornings, stealing tastes of freshly baked pastries despite her playful scoldings.
“That was for a customer!” she huffed, hands on her hips.
Challe, utterly unrepentant, leaned against the counter with a lazy smirk. “I am a customer.”
Anne narrowed her eyes but turned back to her work, only for Challe to sneak up behind her, wrapping his arms loosely around her waist. “You know,” he murmured, his chin resting lightly on her shoulder, “I think you just like pretending to be mad at me.”
Anne flushed, elbowing him lightly. “You’re insufferable.”
“And yet, you love me.”
She had no retort to that.
On slow afternoons, he carved little wooden trinkets while sitting by the shop window—a tiny bird, a cat, a delicate flower, each one left on Anne’s counter without a word. She never asked, but she always placed them somewhere special, arranging them in a growing collection by the register.
“You’re filling up my whole counter, Challe,” she teased one day.
He shrugged, pretending to inspect his latest work—a wooden star. “Then I guess I’ll just have to keep filling up your world instead.”
Anne’s heart stuttered, and before she could stop herself, she leaned in and pressed a kiss to his cheek. The way his eyes widened, the slight pink dusting his skin—it was a sight she would never get tired of.
“You already have,” she whispered.
That night, as they sat on the rooftop of the bakery, watching the stars scatter across the endless sky, Challe quietly laced his fingers with hers.
“So,” he said after a long pause, “do you think we’ll get another loop?”
Anne smiled, squeezing his hand. “We don’t need another.”
Because this time, they had forever.
The Seventh Time Loop – A Love That Stayed
The days after breaking the loop were filled with warmth, laughter, and an unfamiliar but welcome sense of peace. Challe, once a man of fleeting moments, had found something permanent—someone permanent.
Anne.
She was the heart of the little bakery, the steady warmth that had drawn him back every time, no matter how many loops they had lived through. Now, in this life, he was determined to stay by her side.
And apparently, so was something else.
One chilly evening, Anne heard a soft meowing from outside the bakery’s door. She glanced at Challe, who was carving yet another wooden trinket at the counter. He raised an eyebrow at her look but said nothing as she set down her tea and walked over to investigate.
The moment she opened the door, a small, scrappy gray cat darted inside like it had just found its home.
“Oh!” Anne gasped, watching as the tiny creature immediately made itself comfortable by the oven, curling up on the warm wooden floor. It let out a content purr, as if it had been waiting all along.
Challe leaned back in his chair, observing the new visitor with mild amusement. “I see you’ve been adopted.”
Anne knelt beside the cat, gently scratching behind its ears. The little thing lifted its head and bumped its nose against her hand, purring even louder. Her heart melted instantly.
“Can we keep him?” she asked, looking up at Challe with wide, hopeful eyes.
He huffed a quiet laugh, setting his carving knife down. “You’re asking me? As if I could say no to you.”
Anne beamed and scooped up the cat, holding him close as he nuzzled against her. “Then it’s settled.”
She glanced down at the little ball of fluff in her arms, already thinking of names.
“What should we call him?”
Challe tilted his head, considering. “Trouble.”
Anne shot him a look. “No.”
He smirked. “Loop?”
She groaned, shaking her head. “Too on the nose.”
After a moment of thought, she looked down at the cat’s deep silver-gray fur. “How about Ash?”
The cat meowed, as if approving his new name.
Challe nodded. “Ash it is.”
And just like that, their little family grew.
Ash quickly became the ruler of the bakery, lounging on the counter like he owned the place, occasionally swatting at Challe’s wooden carvings or curling up in Anne’s lap as she kneaded dough. He had a particular fondness for stealing Challe’s seat whenever he got up, much to the man’s exasperation.
“You’re not the only stray Anne took in,” Challe muttered one evening as he carefully picked Ash up and placed him on the windowsill.
Anne giggled, pressing a kiss to Challe’s cheek. “And I have no regrets about either of you.”
Challe sighed, but he couldn’t hide the way his lips quirked into a smile.
Life, for once, had settled into something soft, something real. No more loops, no more fleeting moments—just Anne, Challe, and Ash, wrapped in the quiet kind of happiness that lasted a lifetime.