{"id":3819,"date":"2018-12-24T10:27:16","date_gmt":"2018-12-24T15:27:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=3819"},"modified":"2018-12-24T10:27:16","modified_gmt":"2018-12-24T15:27:16","slug":"eight-03-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=3819","title":{"rendered":"Eight – 03"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

Marin reached up, her fingers threading through his hair. Thom relaxed another fraction, though found it didn\u2019t come easily. Something was bothering him, something he couldn\u2019t quite put a finger on, couldn\u2019t quite put a name to. It was becoming an uneasily familiar feeling.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love you,\u201d she murmured, \u201cyou know that, don\u2019t you?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course.\u201d He pressed a kiss to the top of her head. \u201cI always have, even when I was doing my damnest to make you hate me\u2014or at least fooling myself into thinking I was.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the second time you\u2019ve brought it up,\u201d she said, looking up at him in the dim. \u201cIt\u2019s really bothering you. Why?\u201d<\/p>\n

His throat tightened and he swallowed bile, uncertain when it had crept up in his throat. \u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d he whispered. \u201cI really don\u2019t know. It\u2019s\u2014maybe it\u2019s just the timing. Maybe it\u2019s just because it\u2019s been a year. I just\u2014I don\u2019t know, Mar. I really don\u2019t.\u201d I\u2019m not sure I want to, either.<\/em> He was bothered enough by it as it was. Would knowing really help?<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not going anywhere,\u201d she said, kissing his collarbone gently. \u201cYou\u2019re stuck with me. From now for as long as love lasts, remember? I don\u2019t see myself falling out of love with you, Thom. Not ever.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI know.\u201d The words came as the barest thread of a whisper. \u201cI know, Marin. And I know I shouldn\u2019t worry and I shouldn\u2019t be afraid but somehow\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s okay,\u201d she said. \u201cI understand. You can\u2019t help it, just the same as I can\u2019t help it sometimes. It just is<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

He squeezed his eyes shut and nodded. \u201cYes. Yes, that\u2019s exactly it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll get through it,\u201d she said softly. \u201cTogether. Always.\u201d<\/p>\n

He nodded, burying his nose in her hair. \u201cAlways.\u201d<\/p>\n

For as long as love lasts, and love lasts forever.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[This post is from Thom’s point of view.] Marin reached up, her fingers threading through his hair. Thom relaxed another fraction, though found it didn\u2019t come easily. Something was bothering him, something he couldn\u2019t quite put a finger on, couldn\u2019t … 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":[299,310,14],"tags":[150,171,170,152,149,148,168,147,165,158,146],"class_list":["post-3819","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-7","category-chapter-08-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-web-fiction"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1EBlN-ZB","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3819","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=3819"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3819\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3819"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3819"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3819"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}