Closer (Completed) Dark Romance

Chapter 34

I woke up in the middle of the night with my heart pounding and body saturated in sweat. I swallowed away the wave of nausea swelling in my throat and shifted onto my butt with my back against the side of the couch. Was I getting sick? Probably from staying too long outside yesterday, I thought. After I had washed myself up in the bathroom, my eyes roamed to the spot where Henry laid last night, but it was empty. Where did he go?

All I remember was that Henry fell asleep first. He must have been tired from carrying me back to the cabin yesterday.

Before long, I grew more scared, thinking of the possibility that Henry had left me in the middle of the night. I knew I shouldn't doubt him and the promises he made, but these kinds of thoughts were programmed inside of me. I wasn't wrong to feel or think this way, right?

My eyes drifted to an unexpected sound coming from the kitchen. I was petrified at first, thinking it was a ghost, but as the sound became familiar, I knew who it belonged to. As I quietly walked over to the kitchen, there Henry was, hunched over on a dining chair with his elbows bent on his knees and his hands covering his head. The moonlight from the window illuminated his figure, creating a whimsical outline of his tortured soul. My heart suffered immensely at the anguished sight of him. I knew what he had been doing.

He was crying. But why?

My bare feet slowly inched along the floor and I approached him with diligence. When I reached him, I bent down onto my knees in front of him and gingerly placed my hands in between his arms to let him know I was here.

"Henry?" I called out through a soft whisper.

It took him a moment before he could remove his hands to look at me. If even possible, my heart shattered more upon the broken sight in front of me. My throat dried up like a desert as I studied his troubled gaze. How long has he been crying to himself here? I asked myself. Unable to control my own emotions, my eyes began to fill with their own tears as I laid my hands on either side of his face and wiped away his tearstained cheeks. He gazed at me wistfully, the words unable to leave his lips.

"What's wrong?" I asked, trying to comfort him. "You can tell me. I'm here for you."

Henry shook his head.

I suddenly felt guilty for thinking what I thought earlier. He didn't leave me in the middle of the night. He was still here. Very much here.

"If you can't tell me, that's okay," I assured him with an encouraging smile. "All I ask is that you let me cry with you. When you cry with someone, you'll feel a lot better. Hmmm?"

Henry's eyes flicked to mine for a brief second like he was assessing the validity of my statement through my eyes. I nodded once, the smile on my face stretching as I used a finger to brush away the hair covering his forehead. Tears began welling in his eyes again, letting his walls crumble right in front of me.

Something told me this often happened — Henry crying by himself.

"I'm going to go heat up a cup of milk for you. I'll be right back. Stay right here, okay?" I told him. Once I stood up, I felt a weak pressure around my wrist, halting me from taking a step. My gaze fell downward at the image of his large, veiny hand holding onto me.

"Please don't go," he whispered sheepishly. The crack in his usual steady tone was hard to ignore. At such a vulnerable moment, his gaze remained on the floor as he uttered those three words. Those three simple words which probably took more courage out of him than anything he had done in his life. And they were enough for me.

"I won't go then," I said. "I'll never leave you. I promise."

His fingers liberated me but only for a split second before he wrapped his arms around my waist. He pulled me in between his legs and my muscles froze as I felt him lean his head into my stomach with his arms gently tightening around me. One of my hands hovered over his shoulder, unsure of whether to touch him. But it didn't take long for me to warm up to him. In return, I held him close while my hand smoothed away at his back.