Felix x Reader (From Once Upon a Time)

Chapter 7

I pressed my palms harder against my ears, trying to seal out the first notes as they slithered into the air, curling like smoke around the minds of the boys. I gasped for breath, my vision blurred, and the pressure in my chest swelled like it was going to crush me from the inside.

Then—hands.

Not cruel ones.

They didn't grab, they steadied.

Felix. Wordless, but swift. He half-dragged, half-carried me away from the music, off the main trail and into a part of the forest where the pipe couldn't reach. The trees were thick here. Protective. The wind seemed to hush as we passed.

He sat me down against a mossy rock, dropping to one knee beside me.

"Get away from me," I choked out, trying to shove him away. Panic still had its claws in me. I didn't want him to see me like this—vulnerable, cracked open. Weak.

"Hey." His voice cut through my panic, firm and unyielding. "Look at me."

His fingers caught my chin—not roughly, but with enough pressure to force my gaze to meet his. His eyes were steel and stormclouds, and something unreadable passed through them.

"You're safe here. You can't hear the flute anymore," he said, his voice still tight with tension. "It can't reach you."

I didn't trust him. I didn't trust any of them. But right now, my lungs felt like they were on fire, and my whole body was shaking. I let him help me uncover my ears. I didn't want to, but... part of me needed someone to hold the world still for a second.

"Now," Felix said more gently, "look at me. In the eyes."

I did. Hesitantly.

His expression softened—but only slightly, like he couldn't let himself feel too much at once.

"Breathe in... and out. With me."

He began to breathe deeply, guiding me through each inhale, each slow exhale. Matching my rhythm to his felt strange at first, but slowly... slowly... the weight on my chest began to lift. My hands unclenched. My throat loosened.

"There you go," he murmured.

And then, in a gesture that threw me completely off guard, he reached up to tuck a stray strand of hair behind my ear.

His fingers brushed my skin—featherlight. It was nothing. It was everything. And I hated that I liked it.

My stomach twisted. I was supposed to hate him.

When he reached again, thumb brushing a tear from my cheek, I flinched and turned my head away.

That unspoken message was enough. He drew back, letting out a long, tired breath.

"Let's take a walk," he said, voice low. Not a command. Not quite. But not a request, either.

I didn't resist.

We walked in silence, side by side along a moonlit trail. The forest whispered around us—leaves rustling, something croaking in the shadows, the faint echo of laughter far behind us. The longer we walked, the more I could think.

The more I felt again.

I glanced at Felix. He kept his eyes on the path ahead, jaw tight. In the pale glow of moonlight, I noticed things I hadn't before. The sharp angles of his cheekbones. The scar above his left brow. The way his blonde hair tousled slightly in the wind, falling into those eyes that could shift from cruel to unreadable in the space of a breath.