~.✧ Ethira ✧.~ [COMPLETE]

~.✧ fifteen ✧.~

A little over a week passed and Varien and my routine slowly started changing. While we still rarely saw each other during the day because he was extra busy with the pressing manner of the Brikenfolt issue, I caught myself going to him a lot at night when I'd wake up. I didn't have any flashbacks as bad as the first night I'd gone to him, but they still came every night and now that I knew he was willing to help, that he made it so much easier, I didn't hesitate to knock on his door.

I woke up earlier than usual tonight, not with a nightmare but simply with an overwhelming sense of anxiety and loneliness plaguing my heart.

I sat in bed for a moment, staring up at the dark ceiling and wondering if I should bother him with this. But thinking about sitting there alone in the darkness for hours on end when it wasn't even midnight yet made an involuntary whimper escape my lips and tears sting at my eyes.

After debating with myself for several more minutes, I eventually sat up and slowly got out of bed, sliding my feet into my slippers. I crossed the room to our conjoined door but hesitated as I held up my hand to knock.

I'd be fine on my own. I didn't need to disturb him. He probably had just gone to sleep and I would wake him up. And I didn't want to do that to him. He'd already woken up so many times over the past several days for me. I could let him get some rest.

I started to turn back toward my bed but paused when I saw the looming darkness of the room. I couldn't suppress the fear that flooded my heart and made it begin to race.

His words came back to me, soft and comforting. "I'll never sleep again if it means you're safe..."

I spun back around and knocked before I could stop myself, my anxiety building.

It didn't take him long to come to the door, but it still felt too long as the pressure of fear and being so desperately alone built in my chest. When he pulled the door open and met my eyes, a tear escaped.

I didn't say anything and neither did he. Instead, he reached up and used the pad of his thumb to gently wipe the tear away with a tender smile. And then he pulled me into a hug. I melted into his arms.

"I didn't want to disturb you," I told him, still feeling guilty.

He ran his fingers over my hair, his touch soft and comforting. "You don't have to worry about that, love. Come here."

He led me over to the settee and helped me sit down before he crouched in front of the fireplace. Knowing I hated the dark, he worked to get the dim embers lit again with the poker. When a small flame emerged, he turned and joined me on the couch, pulling me against him as my tears dried.

I laid comfortably against him, his heartbeat in my ear as a steady reminder that he wasn't going to leave me. That I didn't have to worry about making him upset when I needed him.

The crackling of the fire was the only sound in the room for a long time until I whispered, "You're too good to me."

He didn't respond at first, like he was processing this. But then he let out a small, quiet sigh that raised my head as his chest moved. "I believe there is no such thing as too good. We love because we have been loved and we do good because we have had good shown unto us. And I show you this not only because I've been called to by Someone higher than me, but because I... I care about you."