Fear of the Dark

ELRETH

Neither of them spoke for a while. Eventually Elreth lay in the crook of his arm, one hand on his chest. She could feel Aaryn sinking back into reality—coming back to face what had happened—but he was taking it in slowly, and she thought that was good. So she stroked his chest and kissed his shoulder, and waited.

Then Aaryn sighed, and it was a sound of such heavy grief that Elreth pushed up on her elbow to look down on him.

He met her eyes—his red, but clear—and waited.

"Are you okay?" she asked quietly.

"I'm a lot better than I would have been," he said, attempting humor, but not really reaching it. "What brought that on."

She shrugged. "I just wanted to be close to you. And I didn't want your first thought when you woke up to be a bad one."

He reached for her face, stroking her chin with his thumb. "I always knew you were amazing, Elreth. But sometimes you even surprise me."