Page 199 of Let Me In

I close my eyes. A tear slips free before I can stop it.

His thumb is there, like always, to brush it away.

“We’ll make it a routine,” he says gently. “Something simple. Every night before bed, you check in with me.”

He kisses my hair.

“I’ll ask. You don’t have to bring it up alone.”

A pause. And then, quieter, “I’ll always ask.”

And for the first time in my life, I believe someone will.

His thumb still rests beneath my eye, brushing away what’s left of that tear.

I feel the weight of his promise settle into my chest—warm and heavy and real. I press closer for a moment. Let myself feel all of it.

“I want to check in too,” I whisper it out, but it’s loud enough, sure enough, for him to hear.

He stills just slightly. Not in surprise. In attention. His hand on my back stays firm.

“I mean with you,” I whisper. “I want to… I want to know howyouare.”

His breath catches so faintly I almost miss it.

“I know you won’t always tell me everything,” I say. “I know some things might stay locked away.”

I lift my head just enough to look at him. To really look.

“But I don’t want you to carry it all alone.”

His eyes go dark. Not cold.

Just deep. Storm-touched.

“I don’t want to just be something you protect,” I add, my voice barely more than a whisper. “I want to be someone who’s there. Even if I can’t help the way you do.”

His grip on my waist tightens, like my words hit something tender in him. Like they reach a place he hadn’t let anyone touch in a long time.

"Even if it’s just holding the quiet with you.”

When he speaks, it’s a whisper torn right from his chest.

“You already are.”

He presses his forehead to mine.

“You already hold more of me than I ever meant to give,” he murmurs.

Something aches in my chest at the way he says it. Like it slipped out. Like it matters more than he meant it to.

So I lift my hand, thread it softly behind his neck.

And I kiss him.

Not his mouth—not yet. First, the line of his jaw. Then the hollow of his cheek. Then, when his breath catches just enough for me to feel it—

Then I press my lips to his.

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