"I love you. And that's a love I never want to change."
Batbite felt like a ghost, as Strom's nose touched hers and he spoke words she'd only heard in her dreams. However, she was awake - well and truly
awake, present and aware of her surroundings - for what felt like the first time in ages; every sound that surrounded them ringing in her ears. None, however, were as clear as Strom's voice.
But there was more than what was all around them to contend with.
Every silent worry and insecurity washed over her once again, every reason she'd denied her feelings multiplied a thousand times. The way she felt like she'd betrayed everyone else that she'd ever dared to love, how she left them all in the darkness as she tried to leave it behind her. How she always seemed to lose sight of the things that were supposed to matter most. How could she know that she wouldn't hurt him, too?
There was no way to know, never for certain.
So many things sat on the tip of her tongue, ready to fall; apologies and corrections and wordless cries for help, but all were left unsaid.
What's life without a little danger? she wondered. Was a life without risk and reward even a life worth living? When had she become so complacent? She'd never been like that before. Perhaps all this time away from the Clans, without pointless rules to ignore, was causing her to lose her touch.
(A voice in the back of her mind, far different from the one that had been bothering her lately, seemed to whisper,
So, what do you say?)
And in that moment, without a spoken word, her choice was made; a smile crossing her face. And there it stayed, something soft and sweet without even a hint of the rough edges she'd grown so accustomed to.
Who could it really hurt, again?
