I'll Do The Same { Din Djarin x OC}

Chapter Twenty: Promises

She traced a small pattern over the shirt covering his chest. "I know you will... Will you say goodbye to me before you go? Just for a minute?"

A hand caressed through her hair, brushing away locks of hair that had fallen past her eyes. "Always."

She squeezed him tight. "Thank you for staying with me."

Content, even without the kid, Thell closed her eyes, drifting off into the darkness. She fell asleep to Din whispering seven words in her ear, seven words that would stay with her forever.

"I'm going to bring our kid home."

Thell woke in the middle of the night, feeling cold as the blanket had slipped from her shoulder. She flipped over groggily, rustling the sheets beneath her as she searched for the blanket in the dark, catching a glimpse of a silhouette on the other edge of the bed.

At first she thought it was just another illusion of the nightmares that seemed to drift into her reality, and tried to calm her hectic heartbeat. But after she slowed her breathing, her eyes adjusted to the darkness.

Din was sitting upright, his back to her, and Thell could only just make out his silhouette against the glow of the moon. Her heart seemed to catch in her throat as she blinked, focusing on him until her vision cleared. She had never seen even the shape of him without his helmet or armor, and he looked smaller than she had thought. Still muscular, and larger than her, but his shoulders sloped in gentle lines, and there was a certain softness about how his hair curled around his neck and wisps fell across his ears. She let her gaze linger for a moment longer before she looked down, averting her eyes. She knew he didn't want to risk breaking the Creed, and she had too much respect for him to do it herself.

So she turned over on her back, looking the other way and closing her eyes. She tried to go back to sleep, acting like she was just readjusting, but the guilt gnawed at her.

"Din?" She whispered.

He was just as quiet. "Thell."

"I, I'm really sorry, I turned over and didn't realize you were awake. I... I saw the back of your head, but not your face. Just your hair, and your shoulders."

To her relief and greatest surprise, Din spoke softly, barely moving on the bed. "It's okay."

"Are you alright?" She whispered, scrunching the blanket under her hands.

".... I've never felt more alone then when I left you and the kid." His voice sounded broken, and Thell fought back tears.

"I thought I was never going to see you again... especially when they drugged me. I-I kept seeing you."

She could see him breathe heavily from the corner of her eye. "I'm sorry you had to go through that."

Thell curled her arms around her chest. "I'm sorry you were by yourself... I can't imagine what that was like for you."

"Cold... it was cold."

Thell's stomach dropped, and she flipped over, blindly searching for his arm. Reaching his elbow, she squeezed lightly.

"Come back to bed, Din," she said. "You don't need to do this to yourself."

He didn't move; she kept sneaking glances at him before she tugged on his arm.

"Din," she pressed.

He took a long moment, sitting silently before turning towards her and climbing under the blanket she had pulled back. The mattress shifted under his weight as he curled up beside her, pressing a swift kiss to the corner of her mouth as she wrapped an arm around him.