“What?”
“The part I didn’t hear.”
I hold her gaze. “I didn’t mean what you thought I meant. You weren’t supposed to change. I want you exactly the way you are.”
Jane’s breath catches. “Even when I’m too much?”
“Especially then, because you being too much is the point. You’re alive. You’re fire. You make this place feel less like a bunker.”
Her throat bobs. “I heard you say everything you didn’t want.”
“And you didn’t stay long enough to hear everything I need. That was my fault for not sayin’ it to your face.”
Jane blinks hard. A tear slips down anyway, and she swipes at it angrily.
I reach up and stop her hand gently. “Don’t.”
She looks at me, startled.
“I’m not sayin’ don’t cry,” I clarify. “I’m sayin’ don’t apologize for it.”
Her lips tremble. “I hate being like this.”
I shake my head. “You don’t hate being like this. You hate how people react to it.”
The words land, and her face crumples.
I shift up onto the couch beside her, careful to give her space. Jane leans into me like gravity is stronger than pride. I wrap an arm around her shoulders, pulling her in.
She goes still. Then she melts. Her breath shudders as her head drops to my chest. I hold her quietly, letting her feel the weight of me without asking for anything in return.
After a while, her breathing evens out, and the tremors fade.
“You smell like smoke,” she mumbles sleepily against my shirt.
I huff a quiet laugh. “Occupational hazard.”
“Mm,” she murmurs. “And coffee.”
“Also a hazard.”
She falls quiet for a minute.
“Tex?”
“Yeah.”
“If you ever don’t want me…” Her voice wobbles. “Just tell me. Don’t let me hear it through a wall.”
I press my lips gently to the top of her damp hair. It’s not a kiss meant to ignite; it’s a kiss meant to soothe.
“I’ll tell you,” I promise. “But I’m not there, Jane.” I tighten my arm slightly. “I’m here.”
Jane’s body relaxes against mine as exhaustion finally claims her. Her eyelids flutter, and her breathing slows. She falls asleep on my chest in front of the fire, curled into me like she belongs there.
I stare at the flames over her head, feeling something inevitable shift inside me.
She tried to make herself smaller for me.
