#enchaentd

she wove a spell around him with thoughtless ease and harry let her. the scent of wild flowers and sunlight drifted around them both, a clouded dream made real in the sheltered comfort of the seahouse. her fingers threaded through his hair, combing dark locks back behind his ears, scratching nails against his scalp featherlight. she touched him so gently, held him so softly, and when she spoke, the emotion trapped within her mouth sang to something, someone, he'd long ago buried.

"someone, somewhere has failed you miserably. you were supposed to be loved, protected and cared for but you never were."

its a sweet sentiment, but he's still not the boy she misses. he's closer now than he was a year ago, back when he was in the vice grip of the drugs, when his addictions and traumas were running his life. he's working his way back, he's trying his best, but he'll never be that boy again. he knows too much now, has done too much, the childlike innocence has finally faded away, leaving him with jagged edges and a hollow emptiness inside. he's not sure how to navigate this, the changing relationships, the slow attempts to return to a life that he fears he'd burned to ashes. how could she want him back in her life? after all he'd said and done, after all the pain, how could she be so willing to take him back? how could she still be so kind and gentle?

orion chuckled, a breathless sound that hurt him like a knife between his ribs. but it was a good hurt. he lay his hand over allies, heavy and gentle despite the incredible violence that had been both endured and executed.

❝ you don't ever have to be sorry, darlin'. ❞ orion said, his voice was rougher than usual, throat dry and lips chapped but he was alive. gloriously alive. ❝ just being yourself, and being here is helping me. ❞

Ruby’s eyes light up like the chandeliers at the Rose Casino — warm, dazzling & sharp enough to blind. Her cheeks flush pink, a hue that rivals the sparkly frost dusting Allie’s coat, though whether it’s from the chill of the air or the affection bubbling in her chest, even she couldn’t say.

“ A cactus? ” Ruby’s brows arch with amused curiosity, dark eyes flicking toward the little green plant dressed up in its festive bow. Her voice drips with a honeyed blend of affection & teasing, the kind only Allie could draw out of her. “ My darling Allie, are you saying I need company? What about you? You’re my most important inside friend, ” she declares, lips curving into a pout before giving way to a grin.

She accepts the hug with open arms, her petite frame enveloped in Allie’s warmth. Ruby holds onto her tightly, if only for a moment longer than necessary, savoring the way the cold melts away under the spark of their shared energy. The kiss on her cheek leaves a sweet burn & Ruby giggles — a sound reserved for the few who know how to crack her carefully crafted composure.

harry leaned forward and placed a kiss of his own against the scars on her back even while she talked. ❝ i like them, ❞ harry said between each kiss, ❝ they're a part of you. whatever made them, you survived it. you should be proud of them . . . i'm proud of them. ❞

he stared down at her, unburdened. gazed at the fullness of her lips, the softened angles of her face and her eyes, vibrant blue like the sea in sunlight. she was a treasure, golden and real, and his. unlike anything— anyone, he had ever known. serene, playful, optimistic, kind. gods she was so kind, and when she kissed him, he came undone.

harry sunk into her kiss, engulfed within the cool currents of her embrace, carried in the tide. he curled over her, pulled her flush against his chest, and drowned in her love. slipping his hands down the length of her waist, he grasped her thighs and lifted her off the floor. he carried her through the rest of the seahouse by memory, tongue sweeping across her lower lip, teeth grazing against soft tissue until he could set her down at the window seat. passed the glass lay the docks, and beyond it, the dark horizon of the sea.

✉️ WHAT COSTUME SHOULD IAN WEAR FOR HALLOWEEN?