Chapter 281
He took another step, so close how I could feel the heat of him wrapping around me.
“So no, Kasmine. I can’t let you go. I won’t let you go. You’re not just someone I love. You’re the only part of me that’s still alive.”
His forehead dropped to mine again, his body trembling with everything he wasn’t saying.
“You’re home.” he breathed.
“You’re it for me, little sister.”
I didn’t know who moved first. Maybe it was me. Or maybe it was him. Maybe it was the force of all the shattered pieces between us finally giving way.
But the next thing I knew, I was in his arms with his trembling hand wrapped around my back while the other held me by my waist.
His breath was harsh against my temple.
And then… he broke.
“Kasmine…” he rasped, his voice splintering. “If I lose you…”
He pulled back just enough to look at me, and what I saw in his eyes almost dropped me to my knees.
Raw devastation.
No walls..
No armor.
Just a man stripped down to his bare soul.
“If I lose you…” he said again, choking on the words, “I won’t survive it.”
My chest caved in. I couldn’t breathe past the knot in my throat.
“I survived losing my mother,” he whispered hoarsely, “but it turned me into something else. Something colder and harder. It broke pieces of me that I never got back.”
He touched my face like he was afraid I’d disappear if he blinked.
“But you…” he shook his head, voice cracking wide open, “you didn’t just fill the spaces she left behind – you built new ones. You made me believe I could be more than the wreckage she left behind.”
A tear slid down his face. He didn’t even wipe it away.
“If I lose you, Kasmine…” His voice dropped to a shattered whisper, There won’t be anything left of me worth saving.” Another tear. Then another. “I’ll still be breathing,” he said, “but I won’t be alive.”
He cradled my face in his hands, his thumbs trembling against my cheeks.
“You’ve been saving me more times than you can ever remember… You’re the only thing in this whole damn world that ever felt like home, Like peace. Like something pure I wasn’t meant to touch, but somehow… somehow, you let me anyway.”
1/2
Chapter 281
I couldn’t see him anymore through the blur of my own tears.
“Please…” he whispered, forehead resting against mine again, his entire body shaking from the intensity of everything he was carrying. “Please don’t leave me little sister. Please don’t take the only good thing I ever had.”
His shaky thumb brushed over my lips, and before I could think, before I could even breathe, he leaned in and kissed me.
It was soft.
Broken.
Shattering.
A kiss that said, I’m sorry. I’m scared. I’m yours, even if you don’t want me.
His mouth barely moved against mine. He just clung to me like I was life itself. And maybe I was… To him.
—
And for a moment – just a moment I let him kiss me. I let him pour all the pain, all the desperate love he couldn’t find the words for, into me.
But the ache in my chest grew too unbearable. So, I slowly pulled back.
His hands loosened immediately like he was afraid of hurting me.
I opened my eyes and found him already staring at me.
“I just… I just need some rest, Kester.”
His face crumpled for a fraction of a second
nod.
–
–
a blink–and–miss–it flash of devastation but he quickly masked it, forcing a small
“Of course,” he murmured hoarsely, stepping back, giving me space even though it clearly tore him apart.
Without another word, I turned away, hugging my arms around myself as I walked toward the staircase.
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Chapter Comments
Visitor
just when I cannot stand gim anymore you turn around and do that. it is a good start but not enough. il hope we see more of this side of him being gentle and vulnerablea
Visitor
Such a good chapter!
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