A Little Death

He gazed at her hand. There was an internal tug of war between his desire and his fear. He wanted to hold onto her hand and feel her warmth, but something told him that it would be a horrible idea to leave that spot on the desk. He stayed at that spot for a few seconds before he pushed himself off of the desk and crawled into bed next to her. He lay down, wrapped his arms around her, and pulled her into his chest. He held onto her hands and intertwined their fingers, and then buried his face in her hair. 

If this was the last time she’d be okay with him holding her like this, then he’d make sure to enjoy every moment.

Her heart gave a loud thump as she settled into him, a feeling of...rightness when Rin kissed her neck and held her hands and buried into her hair. It felt nice and welcomed. She'd missed it. She hated feeling dependency on anyone, but it wasn't a crime to admit she enjoyed being cared about, right? 

Ever since he had seen her walk out of the house next door, Rin hadn’t been able to bring himself to be visible around her. He watched her go about her life from a distance. He couldn’t just walk up and talk to her anymore. She’d ask about the house and he’d be stuck and the truth might spill.

At nights, he watched over her. Ever since the break in during the first couple weeks of her living there, he said he would protect her from any other intruders. He sat on the desk and watched the night pass by and dawn break.

This was the only time he was visible around her. She didn’t shift around in her sleep, and she sometimes mumbled and snored softly. He would let out a breath of air through his nose in a laugh whenever she did that. 

It had been nearly a week since she'd seen Rin. Since she'd left him curled up in her bed under her pillow when he refused to go to school with her, again. Curiosity had led her to the counselor, who had tipped her off on some...interesting information, and before she realized it, she was smoking a cigarette outside her neighbors house, prepared for the worst.

She still wasn't really all that prepared for it.

After assessing that Rin's house next door was in fact, not his house, thanks to the fact that it was abandoned and filled with girl's toys, clothing, and decor, she came to the conclusion that Rin was undoubtedly lying to her. She wasn't sure what he was covering up; his disappearance? His family past? Did he not trust her enough to tell her he was a runaway? She wouldn't tell her father or brother... it actually stung a little...

Of course, after realizing Rin was lying, he had become a phantom and hadn't shown his face to her since that morning. That was also frustrating, and hit her with a pang of loneliness that almost made her break from her laziness to search for her toolbox. The sudden constant loneliness had led to some awful nightmares about pasts and futures and first nights in the house, and without Rin, it all kind of...sucked. So when she half woke up and her vision gave way to a blurred outline of a familiar silhouette, all frustration, anger, and calculating dissolved for a few moments. Rin ought to thank his lucky stars for sleep muddles.