"Stop staring."
Rowan's voice was amused, gentle.
Y/N blinked. "I'm not staring."
He smiled anyway, leaning back on the couch, sleeves rolled up, hair messy like he hadn't tried—and somehow that made him look more real.
"You are," he said. "Your eyes do that little thing."
"What little thing?"
"They soften," Rowan replied quietly.
"Like you forget the rest of the world exists."
Her cheeks warmed. "That's… unfair."
Rowan reached out, brushing his thumb across her knuckles. Slow. Careful. Like he was afraid to rush anything.
"I like it when you're here," he said.
"Not because it's quiet. But because my head finally is."
Y/N looked at him then. Really looked.
"Do you ever get tired of pretending you're okay?" she asked.
Rowan chuckled softly. "All the time."
"Then why do you do it?"
"Because I didn't know there was another option," he said. His thumb stilled. "Until you."
The words settled between them.
Y/N swallowed. "Rowan… you don't even know everything about me."
He shrugged. "I don't need to."
"That scares me."
Rowan leaned closer, forehead resting against hers. "You don't have to earn love with explanations."
Her breath caught.
Outside, rain tapped gently against the window.
"Stay," Rowan murmured. "Just… stay like this for a while."
Y/N nodded. "Okay."
Minutes passed. Maybe more. She rested her head on his shoulder. His arm wrapped around her naturally, like he'd done it a hundred times in another life.
"You're warm," she whispered.
Rowan smiled. "You always say that."
"Because it's always true."
He pressed a kiss to her hair, soft, unguarded.
"If anyone ever hurts you," he said quietly, "I won't be gentle about it."
Y/N laughed softly. "That was dark."
"No," he corrected. "That was honest."
She tilted her head to look at him.
"Do you really care that much?"
Rowan didn't answer right away.
Instead, he lifted her hand and laced his fingers through hers—tight enough to feel safe, loose enough to breathe.
"I care in the kind of way that doesn't make noise," he said. "The kind that stays."
Her chest ached. "Promise?"
Rowan met her eyes. "I don't make promises I can't keep."
She smiled. Trusted him.
And that was the moment.
The quiet.
The warmth.
The way his thumb brushed circles into her skin like he was memorizing her.
Y/N didn't notice the phone on the table light up.
Unknown Notification:
Some people protect you by loving you.
Rowan squeezed her hand slightly tighter.
Unknown Notification:
Others do it by never letting you go.
Rowan's voice was soft when he spoke again.
Almost too soft.
"Y/N," he murmured, "do you trust me?"
She answered without hesitation.
"Always."
Rowan smiled.
And just like that—
with gentle words, warm hands, and a love that felt real—
the scariest thing wasn't that Rowan loved her.
It was that he might never let her leave.....