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4 months later
James made his way through the bustling market-goers. As tense and as paranoid as he was, James would rather go outside himself than send Lily. Upon leaving her apartment, Lily almost requested to go with him, but James knew her well enough by now that she really did not want to go. Of course, he didn't exactly mind. He didn't want her getting overwhelmed.
Over the course of these last four months, James and Lily had become spectacularly close. Lily never really had a friend before and having him was more than anything she could have ever wanted. She shared with him her story of being an empath and some of her family history. James had spilled his past to her as well and she didn't see him as a monster. She kept him as close as possible and made him feel comfortable and welcome.
Since James stayed with Lily nearly every night, only the occasional visit to his apartment, there were many points where James would have a bad dream and she wouldn't wake him up, but she would gently move him into her arms and rock him until he woke. When he first had these bad dreams, she did make the mistake of waking him up and that ended poorly.
~~
James' whimper sounded from the living room, carrying into Lily's bedroom. Being the light sleeper she was, she immediately woke and listened intently to hear it again. She could only assume it was James. He had insisted that he sleep on the couch. For as intimidating as he seemed, he was quite the gentlemen.
Lily's feet delicately touched the ground, careful not to make noise when coming out of her room. When she saw James curled up on the couch and shivering in terror, her heart filled with dread and worry. She moved to the side of the couch and gently touched his arm.
"James?" Quick as lightning, a hand was on her throat. Luckily, it wasn't his metal hand, but unfortunately, he was still incredibly strong. Lily's eyes were wide as she tried to pull his hand away or even loosen his grip to get air. "James." She croaked out, her vision beginning to go blurry. "James, please." She moved her hand to his shoulder, and it was then that she noticed his eyes were still closed. "James." With the last wheeze of his name, her body began going limp, but that was also the moment James woke up, seeing Lily in his iron-like grip. His eyes widened and he released her, letting her slump into a pile on the ground. Her breathing was labored and she coughed with a hand on her throat.
James was incredibly conflicted. He didn't know whether to comfort her or to run away. When he began to stand, so did she and she put a hand on his chest.
"Don't leave." Her voice was still weak and she coughed after she spoke. He opened his mouth to speak but she didn't let him. She already knew what he was going to say. "Please." Tears built in his eyes and he sobbed, falling to his knees.
"I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry." She sat beside him and pulled him into her, letting him cry.
"I know. It's okay. It's okay. I forgive you." With those words, she rocked him back to sleep, his sniffles still filling the room.
