{"id":3811,"date":"2018-12-17T00:00:51","date_gmt":"2018-12-17T05:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=3811"},"modified":"2018-12-16T17:24:36","modified_gmt":"2018-12-16T22:24:36","slug":"seven-07-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=3811","title":{"rendered":"Seven – 07"},"content":{"rendered":"

[This post is from Marin’s point of<\/em> view.]<\/p>\n

Thom released her, leaning back against the mattress. He rested his hand against her spine and she could feel the weight of his gaze even as he settled in against their pillows. Marin glanced back and smiled faintly at him, running her hand down his arm for a second before she finished taking off her shoes.<\/p>\n

\u201cHave I ever told you how much I miss you?\u201d he murmured, eyes half-lidding as he watched her tug off her sweatshirt.<\/p>\n

\u201cMiss me?\u201d She smiled, stretching out alongside him in their bed, on her side so she could see his face. He smiled, reaching over to brush some of her hair out of her face. \u201cI\u2019m right here. You don\u2019t have to miss me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIn some ways, when you\u2019re not right with me, I do,\u201d he said, fingertips brushing along her cheek and jaw. \u201cWhen I thought\u2014\u201d he broke off, closing his eyes. Marin edged closer to him, reaching for his face with both hands.<\/p>\n

\u201cThom,\u201d she whispered.<\/p>\n

He exhaled a shaky sigh. \u201cI never, ever stopped loving you,\u201d he whispered back. \u201cAnd I never will. You know that, right?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course I know that.\u201d She cradled his face between her palms. He was warm, but not enough to worry her too much. \u201cI always have. That\u2019s what made it all so hard, you know?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m so sorry,\u201d he said, inching closer. \u201cI\u2019m so, so sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s okay.\u201d Marin leaned in, pressing a kiss to his forehead, then another to his lips. \u201cIt\u2019s okay, Thom. Now what\u2019s going on? What\u2019s bothering you? I know something must be.\u201d<\/p>\n

He exhaled a shaky breath. \u201cI just\u2014I don\u2019t know. It\u2019s nothing that I can put my finger on. It\u2019s just a feeling.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat kind of feeling?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cJust\u2014just the kind of feeling that makes me want to hold onto you and not let go,\u201d he said, kissing her gently, their noses nearly touching when he drew back. \u201cIt\u2019s probably nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s usually not,\u201d she said, stroking his face.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know,\u201d he whispered, then closed his eyes.<\/p>\n

Then he wrapped his arm around her and held her tightly, burying his face in her hair again.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[This post is from Marin’s point of view.] Thom released her, leaning back against the mattress. He rested his hand against her spine and she could feel the weight of his gaze even as he settled in against their pillows. … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[299,309,14],"tags":[150,171,170,152,149,148,168,147,165,158,200,146],"class_list":["post-3811","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-7","category-chapter-07-book-7","category-story","tag-awakenings","tag-fantasy","tag-fiction","tag-marin-astoris","tag-original-fiction","tag-post-apocalyptic","tag-serial","tag-serial-fiction","tag-story","tag-thom-ambrose","tag-thomas-merlin-ambrose","tag-web-fiction"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1EBlN-Zt","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3811","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3811"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3811\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3812,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3811\/revisions\/3812"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3811"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3811"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3811"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}