Because I Love You✔️

Chapter 53: Bravery

Her own heart prevented her from doing so.

"I need a moment," she said, turning and walking away. "To take a breath."

Nobody paid her any mind.

She managed to keep herself upright, but the moment she was out of sight, the act dissolved. Shoulders sagging, she headed over to the tree closest to her and collapsed next to it, staring off into the darkness. She let out a heavy breath, trying to slow down her breathing.

His touch had done something to her pulse.

She could still feel his fingers on her skin.

There had once been a time where such a thing would have repulsed her... but for some reason, she had allowed it, welcomed it, almost encouraged it.

How had things changed?

When had things changed?

She closed her eyes and sighed again, letting the memories of what had just happened wash over her thoughts. When he had touched her... sparks had ignited inside her belly.

When he had let go of her, she had desired him to embrace her again.

To reach out and hold her.

To seek comfort.

For the first time in her life, she felt deeply and utterly confused: she couldn't understand why she was breathing so rapidly, why her arms were shivering as though they'd lost something, why her mouth was dying to move, to speak, to yell.

She swallowed hard.

Had she undergone the one thing that she had promised to avoid with all of her being?

She wanted to deny it.

She'd never let anyone get that close; nobody had ever been able to penetrate her shield.

And yet, the second that weak, crybaby of a man... no, that faery, of all things... the moment he'd let go of her and walked away, it was like she'd been ripped apart from the inside out. She'd wanted to jerk him into her arms and soothe the part of him that was hurting.

She'd wanted to order him never to turn away from her again... to stop being sad.

Her eyes fluttered closed when she realized the truth.

She recalled the moment when everything had changed. It hadn't been when she'd seen his memories... no, the change inside her had happened after that. A flash of the tears streaming out from beneath Xaphile's trembling hand and across his pale cheeks seared through her mind.

"I wasn't enough..."

That moment, for whatever reason, had changed her somehow.

His eyes had been softer than she'd ever seen, but they'd been filled with so much pain that it had quite literally taken her breath away. In those aquamarine pools, she'd seen a level of agony that stunned her.

"She was my everything..."

His everything.

Ella had seen it in his eyes... had seen the full depth of those words, what they meant.

Or perhaps she'd only seen it because she knew of his past... what kind of life he'd lived.

She had begun their journey with the intention of absorbing her other self's memories, but now, there was no need for it.

She'd seen everything through his eyes instead.

All she wanted was to give him a chance to say goodbye, and to give him a reason to keep living.