"Sorry," I murmured. "I didn't mean to wake you up."
His chest rumbled softly with a quiet chuckle. "You don't need to apologise."
We sat there in the dark for a long while. Every now and then, he'd adjust his hold on me as if to remind me he was still there, and his fingers would trail up and down my arm. It wasn't much, but it helped calm me down.
At some point, I lifted my head a bit to look up at him. Enough light came in through the curtains for me to make out the faint scab at the corner of his mouth – what was left of the split lip Marcus gave him. It had faded some over the past few days, but seeing it again brought the whole thing back.
The pounding on the door. Marcus's taunts. Eli confronting him without flinching... I hadn't been able to stop thinking about it.
Eli didn't hesitate. He didn't let Marcus talk circles around him or get inside his head. Somehow, even after Marcus decked him, he didn't have to fight for control because he already had it. For all the years I'd known him, I'd never seen that edge to him.
I always knew Eli was protective. He had a steady, quiet way of looking out for people. But the way he put himself between me and Marcus... He meant it when he said he wouldn't let anything happen to me. He just wanted me safe.
I'd been telling myself I was imagining the way he looked at me sometimes. That the soft way he spoke to me was only because he didn't want to startle me or trigger anotherpanic attack. That I was reading too much into it because I wanted to.
But something changed that night.
I couldn't shake the way he stood up to Marcus. Nothing in the world could've made him back down. And when I looked at Eli now, part of me wondered if maybe I'd been wrong about the rest of it, too.
My gaze lingered on the fading mark on his bottom lip. I didn't mean to stare, but I couldn't quite help it.
What would he do if I kissed him right now?
The thought startled me. Not because it was new. God knows I'd had them before. But never when he was so close that it actually felt possible. I didn't act on it, though. For now, I just let it sit there.
But I also didn't try so hard to force it down.
I let my head rest against his chest again and exhaled slowly. His grip around me tightened just a little, and then his other hand drifted until our fingers wove together. Sure and steady. Just like everything else he did.
That small change nearly knocked the breath out of me.
"I..." My voice stuck, and I had to swallow around the lump in my throat before I could get the words out. "He got in... In the nightmare. He was yelling and broke the door down. I couldn't stop him."
I felt Eli go still. Not tense, exactly, but his fingers tightened slightly around mine. Then, without a word, he lifted our joined hands to his lips and pressed a soft kiss to my knuckles.
It was gentle. Brief. But it sent such a strong rush through me that I forgot how to breathe for a second.
"He's not getting back in, Ro," he said quietly. "Not while I'm here."
My chest ached at the certainty of his words. I didn't doubt him for a second, but hearing him say it out loud still gotto me. It wasn't even a question for him. He'd already decided and that was that.
I let out a slow breath and leaned in closer to rest more of my weight against him. "I know."
He adjusted without hesitation. One arm stayed firm around my shoulders, and he released my fingers to wrap his other arm around to hold me properly. I felt his hand slide slowly up and down my arm in quiet, calming passes.
God. I didn't realise how much I needed this. I'd always felt safe with Eli, long before any of this happened. But now, it was stronger. I could finally let go of the constant anxiety and trust that he'd hold the line if I couldn't.
The longer we sat there, the more the fear faded away. My thoughts stopped spiralling. My breathing slowed down. Every time I felt myself start to drift, I expected the panic to snap me back awake. But it didn't. Not this time.
I let my eyes close and stayed right where I was, warm and still in the quiet. Wrapped in the one place that actually felt safe. I might have dozed off, but at some point, Eli's voice gently cut through the quiet.
"You okay now?"
I blinked slowly, the words taking a second to land. Then I nodded, too tired to say much, but I managed a quiet, "Yeah. I think so."
His arm unwrapped from around me just slightly as he started to ease back. The instant I felt that space begin to open up, I reached out without thinking to catch hold of his shirt.
"Wait – " I stopped myself, the instinct louder than the thought behind it. My hand lingered to hold him in place, but the embarrassment crept in fast. I dropped my gaze as the heat rose up my neck. "I mean... You – you don't have to leave... If you don't want to."
