A/N: I'm back! I took a loooooong 7 month hiatus, and I'm so sorry for leaving you all hanging, but I think now that my mental health and motivation are both on track for good things, then we'll get more updates in the future. There's only 4 chapters and an epilogue left after this chapter...
Gwendolyn
Seconds felt like minutes. I didn't think I'd ever experienced a reality quite as out-of-focus as this. Maybe when I was captured and stabbed, but even then, I just felt like I was dreaming. This feels like everything is happening around me, but I'm too slow to do anything. Like my body is akin to an aged turtle, and my mind isn't too far behind.
"Gwen." Caspian's voice startled me. Blinking quickly, I looked up at him. "Bath's filled." I nodded and backed away to let him and Roman pick up Atlas and slowly lower him into the tub.
I knee-walked over to the rim and placed my hands on it, clutching it so hard my knuckles turned white, and sat back on my heels. I looked up at Caspian, who pressed a light kiss to my forehead before picking up the washcloth on the corner of the porcelain and holding it under the already-murky water for a second.
He pulled it out and looked at me, eyebrows raised in question. I shook my head, not feeling strong enough to wash the blood and dirt off of Atlas's body.
Not knowing what else to do, I looked up at Roman, who was sitting on the toilet lid. He beckoned me to him with two fingers before patting his thigh twice. I got on my knees again and went over to him, lifting my arms when he reached for my armpits, effortlessly lifting me off the floor and into his lap. I curled up in his arms and he cradled me to him, one of his hands holding my head to his chest.
We watched Caspian as he washed Atlas up, running the washcloth over every inch of his body till he was finally clean. I didn't realize when tears started leaking from my eyes, but I succumbed to it when Roman kissed them away. Staying as quiet as possible, I let streams of tears fall from my eyes, Roman still holding me to his chest, even as my tears dampened his shirt.
"Are you cold, sweetheart? You're shaking," Roman said, his voice low. I shook my head, the heat of his body enough to keep me warm.
"Wh-why am I shaking? I feel like I can't control it." He reached up to my face and tucked some of my hair behind my ear, and I could only describe the look on his face as being melancholic.
"Well, it's likely that your body's struggling to calm itself down," he began. "When we go into fight or flight, adrenaline gets released and it can cause things like shaking. It's just your body's response to stress, my love." I looked away for a moment, trying to will myself to cease it.
"How do I make it go away?" I asked him, wanting to feel normal again.
"By breathing, sweetheart." He cupped my face in his hands, and I kept my eyes locked on his. "Just breathe."
"I-I am."
"But you're not breathing deeply." He paused for a moment, figuring out how to help me. "C'mere," he whispered, pulling me against him so the front of our torsos were firmly pressed together. He wrapped an arm around my waist and used his other hand to cup the back of my head, holding me tightly to him. "With me. In for four." I breathed with him, our bodies moving together. "One, two, three, four. Now hold it for seven." I held my breath, closing my eyes and relying on him to help me. "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven. Now out for eight." I let go of my breath, his grip on me tightening to keep me close. "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. Good. Again."
I kept following his breathing, unable to take my mind off of how intimate this felt. Yeah, we had shared intimate moments, but it was never like this. It felt like our souls were intertwined, an understanding of me from him that I'd never experienced. Like someone was reaching inside of me and taking my hand, but not just mine; they also took the hand of the younger me who'd never felt this kind of love. One free of judgement, of conditions. I wanted to cry again, but for a different reason. Nothing had ever felt so healing.
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My Devoted Demons
Romance"Um, hi," I say, my voice quivering under their gazes. "Hello, little one," the leader -- Caspian -- says. "I think we're going to have a lot of fun, don't you?" ~~~~~ When Gwendolyn Sage waltzed into Whitmore Academy, she didn't expect her dorm to...
