I Never Give In (Percival Graves x Reader)

Alive

(A/N)
Thank you guys so much for all the love and support for this fanfiction ❤️ I will try to update more often from now on. I hope you'll like this chapter!

"Died? No, no, I'm right here, I'm alright, everything's fine, Percy, everything's okay." You were completely confused by his words but reacted immediately, reassuring him there was nothing to worry about. Your head, however, was filled with questions and worry, only now could you see the state he was in and it made you want to cry.

He just stared at you, your arms around him, holding him as if you were afraid he was about to fade away. His face expressed so many different emotions, you could see confusion, surprise, some kind of relief and most importantly: pain. He looked down at your hands for a moment and his eyes went wide, you followed his sight and glanced quickly as well.

Shit.

You had casted a covering spell on yourself earlier on the moment you've seen that you had more bruises and wounds than you had thought. As Percival's well-being has been the most important to you, you had not wanted to focus any more attention on yourself than you already had, not wanting to risk being sent away and forbidden from watching over him. You knew you would not have been able to stand the insecurity regarding his state, if he has woken up confused and in shock or not. Something inside you just was pulling towards him, making it impossible for you to leave his side, like a magnet. From the moment you found him you have felt responsible for bringing him back and making him recover, this was way more important for you than your own recovery. You kept telling yourself that what you've been through wasn't nearly as bad as the hell that Percival must have been in. However, what you didn't realise was that you were clinging onto taking care of him as if you were about to sink, him being your safety. Unknowingly, you were afraid of being alone, afraid of Grindelwald coming back and you subconsciously knew that if you were to be alone in your office, you'd not stand the tension and want to run back down to make sure that Percy was still Percy. You really did prefer working beside him peacefully asleep, rather than face the world and be the one to pity.

Suddenly you felt two arms being put around you, with one of the arms going around behind your neck and the second hand on your back. It took you by surprise that Graves pulled you close to him and stayed with you in that position for a longer while. Feeling he needed it and wanting it so desperately, you hugged him back, wrapping your arms around his chest. At once, the big and strong posture of the man in front of you dropped a bit, broken, relying on you, on your own strength to support him in that moment. You could feel warmth of his breath on your neck when he put his head on your shoulder and just held you as closely as he could. His breath was short and shallow, but with every passing moment it was beginning to calm down, steady itself.

"You're safe. You're safe, that's all that matters..." you whispered softly, in a slow and calming manner and embraced him tighter, giving him all the time needed to calm down, to gather strength. He used to be so strong. Stoic. Mysterious. But Grindelwald has taken it away. What once was normal will be no more, not in the same sense. It was a bittersweet moment. A part of you wanted to cry and laugh with happiness that everything will be fine, that Graves is alive, that he has woken up and now nothing is standing in the way of his recovery. But another part was about to break down, heavy with the knowledge about how broken the man you admired really was, hurting because of how much psychological and physical damage has been done to him. And wondering whether he'd treat you the same or not, the idea of him pushing away everyone, even you, frightening to the bone. But you didn't do anything, conflicted.