A Danger That Lurks In The Darkness | A TPQ AU |

XXXIII | All Because...

MINI

Why was I so afraid? Her fingers trembled in her lap.

She felt the shock slowly wear off, the numbness leaving her toes and face. Her wrists ached, her stomach ached, her head hurt, and her shoulder throbbed.

She felt her gaze drawn to him— Rudy, asleep. His head was bandaged, the longer locks of his dark hair brushing against the rough gauze, his chest rising and falling gently, as he murmured something in his sleep.

The doctors had sedated him after cleaning up his wounds, and she had refused sedative. Currently, she was bundled up in shock blankets.

Her throat stung. The words she'd yelled: Take me, instead of him!

Why had she said that? Why had she lost all control when she'd heard that gunshot? That visceral rage that had followed was still ebbing in her veins.

She had a sneaking suspicion why exactly she'd done it. Why, in that moment, that spur-of-the moment decision had mattered to her so much. Why she'd been so afraid.

Afraid to lose you.

Inadvertently, she brought her hand to her heart, feeling its faint beat through the blankets— it was too fast.

Everything felt so wrong.

She felt tears prick her eyes.

I never wanted to lose you. I never wanted you to get hurt. All because...

She'd had a suspicion, that tiny worry that maybe it went way past 'liking'.

It had. And maybe she'd known for the longest time, but refused to accept it...

All because I'm in love with you.

————

RUDY
He woke up to someone's fingers brushing his cheek.

Rudy slowly opened his eyes, bright lights burning his eyelids, his head heavy. He reached up to touch his cheek, see who it was—

"Oh. Uh, there was some dirt on your cheek."

He felt as if the air had been pulled out of his lungs—

"Mini," he said, quietly.

"Hi," she said, quietly, her eyes crinkling with a fond smile.

He reached out, just barely— his fingers hovering above her temple, "Your... glasses. They're cracked."

She took them off. "I know." Silence fell between them.

"What you did..." She began, taking his hand in hers, her touch light.

Bile rose in his throat. "Is he—"

"In custody. With no chance of escaping."

He forced out a laugh. "Deja vu. Last time, though..."

"The roles were reversed." She said, quietly.

"Mm." He offered her a smile, but when he saw the expression carved into her face: worry, sadness, fear, all etched into her skin, he felt his smile crumble.

He dropped his head, trying to swallow the lump in his throat.

"Hey." She said, softly.

He felt her fingers graze his cheek, as he tilted his face up, ever-so-slightly, so their eyes could meet.

"I'm here for you, okay? We're— we're safe, now. Nothing's gonna happen to either of us."

I love you. I love you, I love you—