[This post is from Seamus’s point of view.]
“Is that what’s bothering you?”
He sighed again. “Shouldn’t it be?”
“I suppose.” Leinth leaned down and pressed a kiss to his forehead, then resumed running her fingers idly through his hair. “But it will be all right. We just have to have to have faith—have faith in our friends, our family. It’ll be all right. We’ve faced worse and come out the other side.”
“Worse,” Seamus echoed. “But nothing quite like this. You know that as well as I do.”
She leaned down, looking him in the eyes. He stared back, feeling lost, helpless. He reached up to stroke her cheek, his heart aching. Leith kissed his thumb lightly before she continued, her voice low. “Are you worried that the dreams will come again? The ones you were having before?”
He squeezed his eyes shut and nodded slightly. Her fingers tightened briefly in his hair and he shivered, swallowing hard.
“You can’t let fear own you,” Leinth said, her voice gentle, pain threaded through it. “This isn’t like you. I’ve never seen you like this.”
“It’s been a long time since I was allowed to.” Seamus tugged at her arm gently and Leinth stretched out next to him, wrapping her arms around him carefully. “Vulnerability has been a liability for me ever since I was a teenager.”
“It will be okay,” she said, the words quiet but forceful. “No matter what, Seamus. I swear it.”
He buried his face against her shoulder. “Just stay like this,” he murmured. “Just for a little while. Until I can fall asleep. Then I want you to go talk to the others and figure out how to fix this mess before it rages out of control.”
“All right,” Leith said. “I promise.”
“Good.” It was only then that he started to relax, by inches and fractions, the feeling of her arms around him helping to quiet his swirling thoughts. Perhaps he would be able to sleep after all.
Perhaps.
