But then he stopped. He just sat there, frozen halfway through whatever instinct told him to get up.
I watched him, trying to get a read on his expression. He stared at some random spot on the floor, and I couldn't quite tell what was going through his head.
So I took a chance.
I moved carefully so as not to startle him and brought my arm around his back. Just a steadying touch. Enough to make it clear that I wasn't uncomfortable or going to make a thing of it. I just didn't want him to feel like he had to scramble away if he didn’t want to.
That seemed to finally snap him out of it. I felt the stiffness of his posture loosen, and he started to lean in – hesitant, almost testing whether this was okay – until he began to settle against my chest.
I let him come to me. Then I wrapped both arms around him, slow and solid. No pressure. Just to let him know I had him. That if he needed to be still for a minute, he could.
He relaxed a little more with each passing second. The tension that had locked up his shoulders slowly faded until he was just resting there against me. Still quiet and guarded, but not nearly as rigid. I let my eyes close for a second, just breathing with him, and when I felt the last of the fight drain from him, I gently tightened my hold.
"You calmed down a bit now?" I asked quietly.
He gave a small nod against my chest.
We sat there for a bit, neither of us talking. I didn't know how long the silence stretched, but I wasn't in a rush to move. Rowan didn't seem to be, either.
Eventually, I angled my head to look down at him. "So? What were you trying to ask me?" My voice stayed gentle. Not pushing, but giving him the space to say it if he still wanted to.
I expected him to brush it off or pretend he didn't hear me. To my surprise, he didn't. Neither did he answer right away, but I could tell it wasn't fear holding him back this time. More like he was trying to figure out how to say it.
When he finally spoke, the words came out quiet. Careful. "Would... Would you be willing to stay here?"
"Iamhere."
"No, I mean..." He paused, and I felt the tension return. "Longer than just popping in."
"You meanstaystay here?"
That made him flinch. "Forget it, that's – never mind." He started to pull back, and I heard the edge in his voice. The one that gave him away when he was trying too hard to play something down. "I don't want to add to everything. I know this has been wearing on you, and I – "
I tightened my arms around him before he could slip any further away. He stopped mid-sentence and froze.
I'd picked up on the guilt that threaded through his words. I didn't know when it happened, but at some point, he'd convinced himself that asking for anything meant being a burden. And now it was clear that he thought he'd already taken too much from me.
"Of course," I said gently. "If that's what you need, Ro, I'll stay."
And just like that, his whole body relaxed again. The air went out of him in a quiet exhale, and he let himself sink into me fully this time. His fingers curled into my shirt as he rested his head against my chest. "Thanks."
We didn't move much after that. Rowan stayed tucked close, his weight pressed into me like he'd at last given himself permission to rest. My leg started to tingle with the way I was sitting, but I stayed still. I didn't want to interrupt the peace he'd finally found.
After a while, though, I felt something jabbing into my skin. I glanced down and saw the edge of his glasses was slightly off-kilter and digging into my chest. His head had sunk lower without me noticing, and now he was fully slumped against me.
I let out a quiet, slow breath. Of course he fell asleep. He was running on fumes, and the adrenaline probably wiped him out. I didn't try to adjust him and did my best to ignore the pinpoint pressure from his glasses. If this was the only place hefelt safe enough to sleep right now, I wasn't going to interrupt that.
Moving carefully, I slipped my phone out of my pocket with my free hand and pulled up the camera feed. The hall outside his flat was empty. No movement. No shadows. Nothing out of place.
Didn't mean I could relax, though.
The knot in my stomach wouldn't ease up. Marcus didn't try to push past me or shout or throw a punch – but his choice to walk away didn't feel like him giving up. It felt like a strategic move. I didn't trust the silence he left behind. I didn't trust the look he gave me before he left.
I wasveryglad Rowan asked me to stay. Even more glad he'd let himself ask for help instead of shutting down again.
Because Marcus was up to something. Those kinds of people didn't just disappear. Whatever he was planning next, at least now I could be here to shield Rowan from it.
The edge of his glasses pressed deeper into my chest when he stirred faintly in his sleep. Just a small twitch of movement, but it sent a sharper jab into my skin. And now that I'd noticed it, I couldn't unnotice it. That, paired with the pins and needles crawling up my leg, was getting impossible to ignore.
