Seraphina
You Say – Lauren Daigle
The second I hear the door open, something inside me snaps tight and then breaks all at once, and I’m on my feet before I even realize I’ve moved, my heart slamming so hard against my ribs it feels like it might shatter them as I cross the room in a blur, not thinking, not breathing, not caring about anything except the three figures stepping through that doorway.
“Trey—”
I don’t even finish his name before I throw myself into his arms, my body colliding with his hard enough that it should knock the breath out of both of us, but he catches me like healways does, like he was built for this, like there is nothing in this world he wouldn’t hold together if it meant keeping me from falling apart.
“Is it over?” I whisper, the words breaking out of me, fragile and desperate and barely there.
His arms tighten around me instantly, one hand coming up to cradle the back of my head, pressing my face into his neck as he exhales against my hair.
“It’s over, baby,” he murmurs, “He won’t ever hurt you again.”
That’s the moment everything I’ve been holding in—everything I’ve been forcing down, locking away, surviving through—finally gives, and the sob that tears out of me feels like it’s been clawing its way up for days, for weeks, for a lifetime.
I break.
Completely.
My fingers clutch at his polo as my knees give out, but he doesn’t let me fall, doesn’t even hesitate as he lifts me effortlessly and drops down onto the sofa with me in his lap, pulling me in against his chest like he can shield me from everything that’s already happened, like he can undo it if he just holds me tightly enough.
“I’ve got you,” he murmurs into my hair, over and over again, his hand smoothing up and down my back in slow, steady passes. “I’ve got you, Sera… I’ve got you.”
I can’t stop crying.
I don’t even try.
Somewhere through the haze of it, through the warmth of him and the safety I’ve been aching for, I hear Mac’s small voice cut through the room.
“Where’s Niko?”
I lift my head slightly, just enough to see her curled into Logan’s side, his arm wrapped protectively around her as hepresses a kiss to the top of her head, his expression softer than I’ve ever seen it.
“Organizing cleanup,” Chace says with a quiet sigh, like the weight of it all is finally settling on him now that it’s done.
Cleanup.
The word sits heavy in the air.
Because that’s what this is, isn’t it?
The aftermath.
The part no one ever talks about.
“Where’s Logan, Sam?”
The question leaves me too quickly, too urgently, and I feel Trey shift slightly beneath me, his hand coming up to smooth my hair back from my face, his touch gentle, careful.
“Sam… he is with your sister to be looked over.”
My breath catches.
“He did?” I push up slightly, searching his face, needing something—anything—to hold onto. “Is she okay?”
There’s a pause.
