Be Brave With Me

Chapter Twenty-Six

Tic. Tac. Tic. Tac. Tic. Tac.

The old clock on the wall was the only sound filling the kitchen, taunting them with every passing second.

Perching on the kitchen island, Aura swung her legs back and forth, matching its rhythm. She didn't let Theo out of her sight. With his left hand clasped on top of his head and her phone clutched in the fist of his right, he was pacing up and down the length of the room in front of her.

He had yet to turn the thing on.

Aura held out 87 ticks of the clock until she had to ask. "Theo, do you think...?"

He paused, contemplated, shook his head and resumed his pacing. "Not yet."

She nodded. "Whenever you're ready then." She settled in to wait some more. Time could run along all it wanted, she'd stay still as long as Theo needed.

It took another 146 ticks until he stopped pacing. He bounced on the balls of his feet, let his head fall back with a frustrated groan, came to lean against the island next to her and flipped open the phone.

His thumb hovered over the button.

She fought a smile, allowed her hand to run through his short curls instead. She knew that move always soothed him, and he could use all the soothing he could get.

"It'll be okay," she whispered. "He will be okay... You will be okay."

Theo leaned into her touch and turned his head until her hand came to rest over his lips. He pressed a kiss to the tender spot of her palm and studied her for a moment before she saw crinkles nestle into the outer corners of his eyes. Easing her hand away, he revealed his devastating smile. He pressed another kiss against her knuckles and placed her hand onto his chest, right over his heart. "Why is it that it only takes you telling me it's okay for it to actually be okay? Just like that?"

Her hand curled into his shirt, right over his heart, and she leaned forward to rest her forehead against his temple. "Because I trust in you." She hoped her words would travel straight to his heart. "And when you trust in somebody, they have trust in themselves. And when you trust yourself, you can conquer anything you thought impossible before. It always works. It's like magic... and trust is the magic potion."

She placed a soft, lingering kiss on his cheek. Beneath her lips, he set his jaw, bracing to conquer what he thought impossible just a minute before. Theo exhaled and turned on her phone.

When it sprung to life and chimed and buzzed like mad in his hands, Aura didn't even flinch. She was too busy making sure to keep her eyes trained on Theo instead on the number of missed calls and messages popping up on the screen.

She wouldn't look. She wouldn't give into the clawing urge to check if she had a missed call from them. She wouldn't give in to the absolute terror that gripped her heart at the thought that she might not.

"You don't wanna know?" Theo raised one brow in disbelief.

She shook her head with a wide, practiced smile and propped her chin on his shoulder. So he wouldn't see it wobble.

"Not yet," she replied.

He saw everything, he understood, all at once.

He nodded and pressed a soft kiss between her brows. "Whenever you're ready."

Of course, Theo had noticed the wobble. He always noticed everything.

Just when she ran out of her crumbs of Italian, he'd step in to translate for her at the market. Just when the first goosebumps appeared on her skin at night, he'd surrender their duvet to her and make sure she was all tucked in. Just when her coffee had gotten too cold for her liking, he'd pass by and finish her cup so she had an excuse to pour herself a fresh one.