"I want you to stay tonight. In here. Second bed."
"Rune—"
"I know what you're going to say. We must maintain professional boundaries. It can compromise your protection. I'm not asking as a principal. I'm asking as someone who won't sleep otherwise."
"Kang put you up to this?"
"He offered it as an option. I'm choosing it." I moved closer. "The crash today: When I heard it, my first thought was to ask whether you were close enough. That means I'm already compromised, Griffin. We're past professional. You know it too."
He was quiet momentarily. "If I stay—"
"We draw lines. Invisible fences. I know. I'm not asking for more than proximity."
"Are you sure that's all you're asking for?"
I met his eyes directly. "I'm asking for what I need. You're the only one who's ever let me do that."
"Okay."
"Okay?"
"I'll get my things."
Twenty minutes later, he was back with an overnight bag. He set it by the second bed and did his security check: windows, locks, and closets. It was a familiar routine now.
"The rigging crash," he said without turning around. "Why did it affect you so much?"
"Because it made everything appear breakable. And I realized, I've started trusting you to keep things solid." I sat on my bed. "That's dangerous, isn't it? That kind of trust."
He turned to face me. "Yes."
"But you feel it too?"
"Yes."
"So, what do we do?"
"We must be careful." He sat on the other bed, facing me. "We need to be honest about what's happening without rushing into it."
"What is happening?"
Griffin looked at me for a long time. "I think you know."
"I want to hear you say it."
"I care about you. More than I should. More than is safe." He clenched his hands and then released. "When that rigging crashed, getting to you was my instinct, not protocol."
"That terrifies you."
"It should terrify you too."
"It doesn't." I pulled my knees up and wrapped my arms around them. "Everyone else in my life has decided what I need. What's safe for me. You ask. You let me choose. Do you know how rare that is?"
"Soo-jin doesn't ask?"
The question surprised me. "Soo-jin manages. It's what he's good at."
"He watches you. Closely."
