Page 32 of Monsters and Mocha

Fitz snorted.

She gasped in fake offense. “Picking on the girl with the head injury? That’s a low blow, Henry. I expect extra chocolate in my mocha tomorrow for that.”

He crossed to her bedside, leaning over her and brushing her hair from her face with gentle fingers. “You would get that anyway. Sleep well, Darbs.” He gave her face one last searching glance, as if to convince himself that she really was fine, then squeezed her shoulder and straightened.

He passed Fitz on his way to the door, and some silent exchange that Darby couldn’t understand passed between the two of them. Fitz nodded tersely. “I’m staying.”

Henry closed the door quietly and his heavy footsteps on the stairs faded into the distance. Darby fought to keep her eyes open. “You don’t have to stay here. I’ll be fine.”

His voice was firm. “I’m staying.”

“Fitz, it’s just a concussion. I’ll get some sleep and be fine in the morning. You don’t⁠—”

“I’m not leaving, Darby.” There was a pained, desperate edge to his voice that prompted her to open her eyes fully and look at him. His jaw worked back and forth, and he swallowed thickly before continuing. “If I hadn’t left you at the hospital, I would have been there to protect you. I’m so sorry.”

“You don’t need to be sorry; it’s not your fault. Don’t let a misplaced sense of guilt keep you in that uncomfortable chair all night.”

He paused for a moment. “It’s not guilt that’s keeping me here. I want to know you’re safe. I don’t think you can imagine what it was like to see you like that. I thought…” He swallowed again, and his eyes were bright with unshed tears. “I thought you were gone. I thought I lost you.”

“On the bright side, I wouldn’t have been around to ruin your life anymore.” Darby tried for humor, but the unresolved conflict between them made the joke fall flat.

Fitz’s voice was pained. “Don’t. I shouldn’t have said what I did. You saved me, and instead of focusing on the fact that I was given a second chance, I blamed you. I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry that all of this means you can’t continue to do the job that you love, and that your life will never be the same. But I’m not sorry that I kept you alive; I’m too selfish for that. I prefer my friends to be breathing.”

He chuckled, and the sound wrapped around her heart like a warm hug. “A rather low bar for friendship.”

“I have to take what I can get. I don’t know if you noticed, but people tend to keep their distance.” The drowsiness was making her loose-lipped, but she was too tired to care. “Henry and Raven are about the only two who actually like me.”

“Not true.”

“Merry doesn’t count. He’s like a puppy who loves everyone who looks in his direction.”

“I wasn’t talking about Merlin.”

Her eyelids drooped shut, and Darby had trouble discerning whether the words she heard were real or just a part of a dream. “Does that mean that you like me?”

“Of course I like you, Darby.”

“Even though I’m not soft and pretty like Lacey? She says I have man arms.”

“Considering the fact that without those arms, I would be dead right now, I happen to think quite highly of them.”

“That’s good. I like you, Fitz. I’m glad you’re my friend.” She giggled. “Did you know I held your hand before we were friends? Get it? Because I had to make it. I held your heart, too.”

His answer was just barely loud enough to hear as she drifted off.

“I think you still do.”

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

DARBY

Despite her previous assurances, Darby’s head still pounded the next morning. She trudged down the stairs, wincing with every step, and pushed open the door to the front room of Clerval’s. Henry, Fitz, and even Robertson had beaten her there, and whatever quiet, tense conversation they had been engaging in as she entered the room immediately stopped.

Fitz was on his feet in a heartbeat, pulling out a stool and helping her slide on. His hand hovered just behind her back, close enough that she could feel its heat.

Henry looked down at her under reprimanding brows. “What are you doing out of bed?”