"She moved with shameless wonder."
In which Ranboo meets a girl named after the stars. A girl with a troubled past who's meant to find a community and instead they both find a best friend.
Her path of self-destruction and anger leads her to her cous...
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When Ash wakes up the next morning she has forgotten that Ranboo was there. For that moment the hurt comes crawling back, wrapping its grip around her heart. Until she feels his nose pressed against her neck and the warmth filling the space next to her. She breaths in deeply surrounding herself in his presence and rests her gaze on his sleeping face. The hurt retreats back into the hole in her brain in came from and she allows herself to feel warm again.
Relief can't even describe how she feels that he came for her. Her regret had been eating away at her. Every day spent missing him hit harder than the last.
At her side Ranboo slowly stirs, his breath hot against her neck. Ash carefully curls her fingers into his hair, gently stroking it.
"Good morning," she whispers, "I love you."
"I love you too," his voice is low the sleep still lingering. His eyes slowly open to meet hers as they glisten in the morning sun that's streaming through the window for the first time in three days. She has no idea when the curtains were opened or by who but she's glad that are.
"I didn't tell you last night how much I love your hair," Ranboo says light-heartedly. In fact last night they hadn't said much of anything.
They had just held each other, Ash occasionally muttering apology's and Ranboo gently reminding her that it's okay. He had forgiven her the moment he stepped into the room, especially after seeing how she's been killing herself over it.
A soft knock cones from the door and it swings open to reveal Techno, still in pajamas and hair messy. "I made breakfast if you two want."
"Thank you," Ash says quietly and he smiles and turns to leave. Ranboo wraps his arms tighter around her torso and she curls back into his embrace. "We should probably get up and go eat," she whispers after a few moments, "Techno will worry."
Ranboo nods and slowly moves away to stand up. Cold air replaces the spots where his warmth had touched her making her shiver. She stands up and quickly takes his hand, already craving touch. His touch and together they walk out to the kitchen.
Techno hands them both a plate with an omelet. The smell of it, particularly the egg makes Ash feel nauseas and she tries to subtly push the plate away.
"Ash," Ranboo says quietly leaning in close to her ear, "please try to eat." She sighs and brings a small bite into her mouth, and then, realizing how hungry she is, she eats.
~~~
After breakfast Techno has some errands to run, leaving them alone at the apartment. Once he's gone they go up the roof. It's a nice day, the wind having a bit of a chill to it but the sky is clear.
"I love you," Ash says and with one finger slowly traces the lines of his hands.
"I love you too," his words are breathless and he shivers from the touch.
"When do you go home?"
"I never booked a return flight, I didn't know if I would be staying. Everything was so uncertain I just didn't know when I would go home."
Ash smiles, "how long can you stay?"
"Not for to long, as much I never want to leave I have to go back home eventually."
She nods, understanding completely. "This time," she says as she hooks their pinkies together. "This time I promise I'm not letting go." Ranboo raises their hands and presses his lips to her hand briefly.
"I never will either."
~~~
Ranboo flies home a week later. Parting is as bittersweet as always but Ash doesn't have doubts this time. She knows he's the one and that she won't let anything get in the way of that, especially not her own feelings. They've already planned a time for her to fly to him in a month or so to meet his family.
They also plan to travel to the UK with each other at some point to visit their British friends. Both of which have prided themselves on getting the two back together.
One tight hug and a gentle kiss and Ranboo is walking away again. It's different this time, it doesn't hurt. Ash will find comfort in the pictures of them, the hoodie he's left behind and the fact he's only a phone call away.
She will wait as long as it takes. They will fight as hard as they and love each other more than ever thought possible.
~Author Speaks~ Word count: 766 This may be a surprise but I've decided I will be ending this book after this chapter plus the epilogue. I'll speak more on it in the final note.
