crossmyheartandhope

[Slowly - slowly - his grip on her jacket becomes a little less desperate, like he's just holding her, instead of terrified she's going to leave.]

[Even more slowly, some of the tension starts to go from his shoulders - not much, but a little bit. The hand in her hair stutters back into motion, slow and almost cautious, gently stroking.]

[To say she calms at the touch would be exaggeration, but she hums a little, and shifts just enough to fit more comfortably against him than the previous desperate crush. And--that's all, just lying still and letting herself enjoy the experience of just being here, like this.

Eventually she centers her hand over his back where his heartbeat isn't, but at least she can feel him breathing.]

[It's a steady rhythm, mostly calm - though every now and then, the intake is shivery and a little uneven, from the aftermath of the tears.]

[He closes his eyes and just lets himself have this, for now. It's more than he'd ever thought he was going to get again, and he settles against her and soaks it in. And if maybe the tears start again, less hysterical and more quiet relief, maybe she won't notice.]

[She starts stroking her thumb over his back, small but soothing--to her, at least. Maybe she won't always have this but she does for now, and she closes her eyes, takes in another breath of his scent, lets it out as slow as she can.

Her pulse still speeds along, keyed up, but she's tired to the bone. It has been a long couple days, to understate the issue.]

[Soothing to him, too. And for a while, he just enjoys it, quiet and contents.]

[After a long time, though, he shifts, just slightly - pulls back enough so that the word won't be a muffled nothing, when he speaks.]

...hey.

[She immediately tenses, hand stilling]

...Mm?

...you don't got anywhere to be? Like - for real?

[She pulls back so she can see him; squints at his expression, as if she's afraid she's missing something even this close.]

...Where else would I have to be? Crying in the toilet after getting dumped? 'Cause that was kinda as far as I'd planned today.

[Which...whoops, honesty again, but at this point, what did she have to lose?]

[His expression's soft and very unsure.]

...what? No. Dude, no crying in the toilet, vetoed, that's.

I was just thinking, like -

[He hesitates.]

If we're gonna be here a while, we don't got a good set-up here, not like the hideout. No wall to lean against. So, like -

[He hesitates even longer, this time.]

...if you're not going nowhere, and I'm not, we could probly lay down, or something. If that's easier.

...Oh. Yeah, probably, yeah, 's a good idea.

[A beat, and she moves her hand to kind of shove the blankets and pillows over to one side (kind of, given that they're partially underneath them, and thus are only moving so far)]

...You, uh. Wanna get in?

Yeah. Uh. Lemme -

[He hesitates again - moves to disentangle himself, though he's frankly a little reluctant to let go. He shifts a little, awkward, to get more of the blankets down, and then shifts more so that he sitting in a place that will be beneath them, when they're drawn up again.]

Yeah, uh--

[She tripods to keep balance while clambering over his thigh to the "in"-side; goes to pull the blanket up and finds herself out of hands with which to do that without awkwardly stretching across his body]

--Little help?

Yeah. Sorry, yeah, lemme -

[He reaches to take hold of the blanket, to pull it up over the both of them.]

Ah, okay, hold on--

[levers herself down, half on him, and rearranges herself where she can curl into his side, arm careful across his body under the blanket.]

Okay?

...yeah. Yeah, that's - that's good.

[After he's settled in, he reaches out, cautious to get an arm around her, as well.]

Are you - good?

Yeah, I'm good.

[She shifts a little closer, then pauses]

...I mean, I'm good if you're good. You good?

...yeah.

Yeah, I'm good.

[The smile on his lips is small, and maybe hard to see, considering how dark the room is. But it's incredibly earnest, and more than a little grateful, and lands somewhere in the way-better-than-good category, honestly.]

Okay.

[She relaxes a little, lets out a relieved sigh]

Okay, good.

[He hesitates - shifts in a little closer, so that he can hold her less awkwardly.]

[Does not seem to have any issues with this]

[Okay, good.]

[Good.]

[He breathes out, and a little of the tension goes out of him - curls in nearer, and tucks his head in against her. And if that reminds him, for a second, about how she'd tried to do the same when she didn't have a head to do it with, well - well. He does a pretty good job of not letting that show.]

[She raises her hand higher up his back regardless, movement automatic; hesitates, then gingerly leans to press her cheek to the top of his head]

[The hand at her back curls in a little at the gesture - strokes carefully along her spine, as much to soothe him as to soothe her.]

[Swallows at the feeling; takes in a breath, then lets it out slow and shaky, ruffling his hair a bit]

[He keeps it up, then, slow strokes from the wrist, a gentle back and forth. His own breath is steady and even, slight warmth against her collarbone.]

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