Page 143 of Let Me In

Just care.

“I’ve got you,” he whispers. “Still. Always.”

His hand brushes a tear from my cheek with the back of his knuckle.

Then he looks at me.

Really looks.

“Do you need anything?” he asks, voice low. “Water? Bathroom? A break from me?”

I shake my head fast at the last one. The words don’t come right, but the feeling does—no. No distance. Not now.

His gaze softens like I’ve just given him a gift.

“Alright,” he murmurs. “Then let me do this.”

And before I can ask what this is—

He shifts beneath me, the motion slow and steady. His breath brushes my forehead, his body taut with something quiet and focused.

His arms curve beneath my legs and my back, lifting me in one easy, seamless motion. My body moves on instinct—legs curling back around his waist, arms winding up around his neck like I’ve always belonged there.

I bury my face in his shoulder, cheek pressed against the warmth of his skin.

He holds me like I weigh nothing.

Like I’m meant to be carried.

His breath brushes my hair, and I swear I hear it—soft and low, a murmur just for me. “Mine to hold. Always.”

Something in me melts at the sound of it. My arms tighten around his neck, my forehead pressing in beneath his jaw. Not to hide. Just to be closer. Just to let the truth of his words sink into my skin.

Because it’s everything I’ve never dared to ask for.

And he’s giving it to me freely. Fiercely.

Like it’s all he’s ever wanted, too.

The rhythm of his steps is slow, sure, unbothered by my weight or the quilt that slips slightly from my shoulders.

I don’t reach to fix it.

His hands are enough. A promise made flesh.

His holding is everything—like being carried through a storm by the one who was always meant to guide me home.

He doesn’t speak as we move—just holds me closer. I feel the tension in his arms, not from strain, but from restraint. From everything he isn’t saying.

And still, I feel safe.

Still, I feel… his.

He carries me through the hall without a word.

Not because there’s nothing to say.

Because nothing needs to be said.

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