Maybe he let himself be a little indolent. He let her shower him with her kindness.  But he was afraid for certain, yes, terrified in fact. Soon enough, he would have her lifeless body in her hands and the red of her blood painting his fingertips and mingling with the bright strands of her hair. The very thought of it petrified him, was it too late to push her away? Just like he had with everyone else.

All because he was afraid.

His eyes zig-zagged over the path of leaves outside his little cabin before landing on her. There, there was that smile and the tender eyes. How long had it been since he had experienced this? A vague memory of his childhood maybe. But these woods have been the only kind thing to him and now here she was in all her fierce love, being so kind. He didn’t know whether to push her away or pull her close.

She was close, the smile still not fading. Her calming scent making its way to him and the sound of her feet against the leaves causing his ears to perk up. He knew her skin would be warm against his and the lovely red ends of her hair would stand in stark contrast against his pale skin. Hyeji stood in front of him, tucking a strand of her hair back behind her ear observing him as he looked up at her.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, feeling a little self-conscious but relaxing when his hand reached out for hers and pulled her towards him. She found herself drowning in his intense gaze as she looked down, meeting his gaze with one of her own.

“I’m afraid.” the words escaped his lips.

“Of what?” she asked, slowly sinking down and settling in front of him, twisting and turning her hand till his hand was in hers. His fingers found themselves interlacing with hers. Leo found himself looking at their hands as Hyeji patiently waited before he sighed.

“Of myself.”

He heard her let out a breath of air, he could smell that unidentifiable calming scent that was her and he took it in in gulps as she gently squeezed his hand.

“And how can I help?” her voice was calm, steady, and at that point soothing.

“I’m not sure…” he began “I’m confused too.” He could sense her lips pursing.

“We can always get help Leo. But it depends on you to take it. If you’re not comfortable talking to me about it, I understand” she smiled, his eyes shot up to her face and he wondered how on earth she wasn’t fleeing. Human contact was something he had learned to forget.

“I’ve forgotten what it’s like to be human.” He found himself saying, her face turned serious. She placed her hand on his chest, feeling the gentle thump of his heart.

“It’s all in here,” he heard her say, her finger poking at his forehead “and here. We all have our monsters, we need our hearts and minds to fight them. It’s slow, it’s difficult, but it is not impossible.”

“Impossible.” He echoed as she took his hands in hers and looked at him with a grin.

“Sometimes, you just need a little help and I’m always here for that.”

“What if it’s a monster you can’t defeat?” He asked, with a slight smile, amused at her positivity.

“Well, we’ll see when it comes to it.” she was still smiling when she was pulled up against his chest in a warm hug as she felt a brush of his lips against her forehead. She was quite sure it was unintentional, but her smile turned into a grin against the firm chest as she hugged him back.

He was certain, even if he was afraid, it was too late to push her away.

Long weekend :) Update time!

Thank you for sticking with me even through the late updates and everything.

Promoting my VIXX fic here as well :) It's a lot more light hearted if you're into that kind of stuff!