Through better and worse

Commission for @unicornymous

A/N: Contains descriptions of mental illness (Dissociative Fugue Dissociative Amnesia and Bipolar Depression with Schizoaffective) and a big part of hurt/comfort with happy ending. Also, heads up: this is long (a bit over 6k).

Request: Orc x OC/Reader with the SFW mental comfort, Fantasy/Medieval era.

Orc (POV) x fem!human || SFW, hurt/comfort

After what felt like an eternity, even thought it was probably just a couple years, he was more than tired of trying and failing to find a good wife. Every woman he met, orc, human or other had been more than accommodating to him, but they lacked some kind of spark he needed. They met a few times, always supervised (obviously), but never clicked. Either they found him lacking, too big, too green, too rough… Or he found them not enough. There was always something that didn’t feel right.

He didn’t even know what he was looking for exactly, he just knew those women weren’t the one. After he lost his parents at a young age, he had craved a family, a connection surpassing just coexistence. He craved for someone to look after, someone to take care of. He wanted to feel needed, but also someone who would look after him and his needs. He looked for a partner in every sense of the word. He needed someone that just cared for him the same way he wanted to care for her, and that hadn’t happened yet.

The failures didn’t stop him, though. He kept looking, he traveled to far lands trying to find the one. He looked all around, but still no luck. He was starting to lose hope, thinking of a lonely existence without anyone to keep him company in the dark winters. The image of a lonely future was sad, but he made peace with it. Kinda. That was a lie, he craved so hard for that connection that he didn’t know what to do anymore.

Until the matchmaker office opened in the tiny town he settled in the last couple years.

He passed by the door every day on his way back from selling the hunt of the day. Day after day he saw people going in and out, some of their faces happy, some of their faces sad… But the hopefulness in all of them resonated with something deep inside of him. He also wanted that. He wanted to feel hopeful again, and who knew, maybe they could find what he couldn’t.

After a lot of thought, and probably a month of overthinking if he should or shouldn’t, he went in. He dressed in his best outfit, the one he had specially made to give a good impression to humans. They didn’t like when he wore his hunting gear, which was basically a loincloth and some fur in the winter. Orcs ran too hot to wear as many clothes as he was wearing at that moment, but he already knew it would be the best option. He tried not to be noticed by humans, they knew of the existence of monsters, but they still didn’t like them that much, or at all.

He entered and jumped a little when the bell around the door rattled, chuckling at his own foolishness. The lady behind the front desk looked up and her eyes widened in fear, he tried to look as small as possible, but it wasn’t always possible when he was a big green orc. He stood out everywhere he went, and this time it wasn’t different. Her reaction brought back all the bad memories of humans running from him, all the ugly words they said when they thought he wasn’t listening. His anxiety picked as he tried, and failed, to look non threatening. He almost regretted his choice and was about to turn around when he saw her for the first time.

You.

You were such a pretty thing, a pretty human, tiny compared to him, but most humans were tiny compared to him. You looked back at him and your eyes widened, but not in fear, but in surprise. You had the most expressive eyes he’d ever seen, framed by thick glassed that fit your face just perfectly. And a sadness pooling down inside of you that shined through your eyes. Something inside of you screamed of pain and loneliness, and it made his breath catch in his chest, his heart beat so fast he couldn’t process the turmoil inside of him.

You were standing next to an old couple, probably your parents. You were there, but also weren’t. You looked lost, like you wanted to be anywhere but there. But the spark of hope he felt inside of him was mirrored in your sad eyes. Your eyes on him lost focus, like you were in a completely different reality in that moment. He thought it was strange, but something in you drew him in like anything else ever could.

He felt it then. Something inside of him unlocked, and a blossoming heat burned inside his chest. It felt like lava was melting his whole heart and something new was appearing in its place. He wouldn’t call it love, not even affection, but a spark of what could be. The spark of hope so bright after so many dark months.

Lost in her, he didn’t catch what the couple said first, just the last of their conversation. “We’ll wait for news on the marriage proposal, thank you, thank you, thank you…” the old man was saying, profusely thanking the matchmaker.

You were looking at the floor, like it was something interesting there, the corner of your lip raising, but he couldn’t see your eyes to see if that tiny smile reached your eyes. He wanted to, he wanted to see how would you look with a big smile. But you didn’t look up, and he lamented it greatly. He wanted to see your eyes at least once more. To see some kind of recognition in you. But that didn’t happen and something inside of him hurt for it.

The couple thanked her a couple more times and left the office. You walked after them, not looking up from the floor and leaving a sour taste in his mouth and a gaping hole of hope inside his chest.

When you were out of his sight, his brain turned back on, a thousand questions arising. Were they there for you? Were you marrying someone? No. That couldn’t be. You were the one. He didn’t know how he knew, but something inside of him was so sure and so certain of that fact that he wanted to turn around and follow them out of the office. He wanted to stop the old man and ask him for your hand in marriage instantly. The sadness in him recognizing the sadness in you.

“And you are…?” The matchmaker asked, looking at him expectantly. He realized he had been standing there completely still for a few minutes, looking at the door just in case they came back and he could catch a sight of you once again.

You turned around rapidly, focusing all your attention in the old matchmaker lady. “It’s her. I want her. What do I need to do?” He urged.

She smiled at him with the patience that came with age and years of working with people. “Not so fast, Mr. Rude Orc. You came here, into my office and don’t even introduce yourself before you are telling me what to do and who to match?” Her annoyance was clear in her tone and made him blush a deeper tone of green. She was right, obviously. He came to her business and acted all eager and urgent about somone he just met for a few minutes. Someone that didn’t say a word while he was there, too. He must be insane.

“I- I’m sorry, ma'am. You are completely right. Excuse me,” he apologized, bowing his head to show some respect and cursing himself for being so careless. That woman in front of him had the key for him to meet with you again, he should be more delicate about the whole thing, he didn’t want to screw it up. “I came here to find the one, I wasn’t expecting to see her here. I’m just amazed,” he explained.

She patted her arm in a motherly way, smiling up at him and pointing to a big sofa in the next room. “First of all, let’s talk about you, and then I can decide if you two are a match.”

“We are,” he confirmed. He was so sure of it that he couldn’t even explain it.

The lady laughed, cheerfully. “I will decide that,” her voice wasn’t patronizing, but in a way he felt like he already failed the first test. Fuck.

“I- Okay,” he agreed and sat on the couch. It was too little for him, but he sat either way.

She started with simple questions about his age and name, and kept going. And going. And going. She asked so many questions he was confused beyond belief by the time she finished. She asked about every aspect of his life, what he did, how big his house was, what were his intentions… The whole situation felt like a sheriff interrogation, and he was the first suspect in a murder case.

After a long silence of her looking intently at him, she finally said: “Okay, I will find you a match.” He had to bite his tongue not to sigh in relief. But then he processed her words. She didn’t say she would match him with you, but that she would find a match.

“Not a match, her. I know it’s her, I can feel it inside. It has to be her.” The vehemence in his tone must have awoken something inside of her, because the old matchmaker sighed deeply, like what she was going to say was too painful to say out loud.

“I- She’s a complicated case. Her parents want to find the perfect match, someone who can understand her special situation.” His protective instincts arose instantly. What made her a special situation? Was she sick? Was she too picky? Maybe his parents didn’t want her dating an orc. Maybe they were just looking for humans. Fuck, he had to make them understand. “She has some… struggles. I will find you a better option.”

“I don’t care about her special situation.” He made quote signs as he said it, not really believing your case would be that complicated, probably just some minor stuff that stupid human men couldn’t deal with. But he wasn’t a human, he was an orc, and he knew you were just perfect for him. “I will accept her. I want her.” The matchmaker was looking at him like he didn’t understand what she was saying, but you understood just right. Human men weren’t good for her, but lucky for everyone, he wasn’t a stupid human man.

“Let me think about it, we can arrange a meeting and see if you two understand each other,” she finally agreed with another big sigh.

“Yes. Yes. Do that. Arrange the things.” A spark of happiness was blooming inside of him at the mere thought of seeing you again.

“Come back the day after tomorrow and I’ll tell you something more specific,” she instructed.

The two days passed as slowly as if he was moving through quicksand. His body felt heavy as he dragged his weapons to the forest and back with the meat. The butcher paid fairly for the meat he hunted, more than enough for him to live comfortably. When he got the money he could only think about how many pretty things he could buy to his future wife. What would you like? What was your favorite color? Did you enjoy jewelry? He wanted to know everything about you, and he needed to know.

When the day arrived, he showed up way too early, his eagerness making him run around all day. He had already prepared for a new room to be added to his house, a new kitchen constructed from scratch and ordered some new mattress and covers. He was thinking ahead of himself, but for the first time in what felt like ages, he could see a future with someone else, a future with no loneliness.

The matchmaker smiled tensely when he arrived, her eyes so dark he could feel something wrong was happening there, but he didn’t press on the issue. Months later he would understand that strained look better than the old lady. But at that moment, his loneliness gave the best of him and he didn’t care what other humans thought was wrong with you, he knew he could be better.

He was instructed to sit down and wait. When the bell rang with a new person entering the office, his heart almost escaped his chest.

“Hello,” he almost squealed, his voice too high because of the nervousness inside of him. He wanted to make a good impression, he wanted you to want him back. He would never marry you if you weren’t okay with it, so that meeting was a key point in his life. He had to act perfectly.

You looked up at him shyly, a pinkish blush covering your cheeks. “Hello.” Your soft voice shook him to the core, his heart thumping so hard he could only hear that. “So nice to meet you, they told me you wanted to meet me.” Your amazement at that fact was surprising for him, how could he not want to meet you? You were perfect.

When his heart calmed enough for him to shake your hand, he noted a couple things. Your dress was so pretty he could shower you with compliments, but refrained in fear of making you feel uncomfortable. The sadness in your eyes was completely gone, he could almost believe you were as excited as him to be there. Maybe you were. Maybe you felt the connection, too.

The meeting felt like a few seconds and a whole year at the same time. He talked and you listened, and then you talked and he listened. Your voice enthralled him, you were so bubbly and charming, full of energy. The girl he saw the first day nowhere to be found, you were excited to talk to him, so happy and so full of life he wanted to hug you every second of every day.

By the time your parents told you it was time to go, he was a bit enamored by you. And you… you looked like you were about to jump off your skin with energy. He though that you acted a bit strange, but nothing too weird. You were probably just quirky. He liked that. He liked you enough. You would be a good wife for him, he was sure.

He left the matchmaker office with a promise of a wedding and a month of preparations. He couldn’t see you for a month, but he was fine with that because he would have the rest of his life to see you everyday. The walk back to his house felt like he was walking on clouds, all the weight he carried for so many years lifted off his shoulders. He couldn’t wait to have you all for himself.

The day of the wedding, or more like the day you two would sign the papers, he woke up extra early. He went hunting and caught a big deer. He prepared everything so when you two were back later the food would be ready and you could enjoy each other’s company without having to do anything about it. The extra room was almost ready, just the final touches to be made. He wished for you to decorate it as you pleased, he wanted to make you feel at home in your new home.

When he arrived at the courthouse, the matchmaker and your parents were waiting outside. All of them had weird expressions on their face and seemed tense. He guessed they were all a bit on edge because of the wedding. Everyone was nervous at weddings, right? He sure was. He waited next to them until you came walking down the short hallway. Your dress was a very light shade of pink and fit your features perfectly. You looked like all his dreams came true.

“It’s so nice to see you again, you look stunning,” you complimented, taking her hand and softly raising it to your mouth to give it a kiss. You blushed and looked down. If he was paying enough attention, he would have realized the sadness was back in your eyes. Something empty inside of you, like you were there but also weren’t. But he was too elated to see you there, to know he wouldn’t come back to an empty home ever again.

“Have we- did we meet?” You asked, looking at him like it was the first time he saw him. He laughed it off, thinking you were joking and ignoring all the alert signals that were firing in his brain. Brides were usually nervous, maybe your way to deal with it was joking around. He would like that, a wife with a sense of humor.

“What? Of course we did. A month ago, we talked for hours,” he continued your supposed joke.

You giggled in a very fake way, he was too distracted by you to realize that, though. “I- Yeah, yeah I remember.” You didn’t look convinced, but he guessed it was just because of the wedding stress. All brides had a hard time during their wedding because of the heightened emotions. He was sure of it, nothing to worry about. Normal weirdness because of the ceremony.

“Are you ready to marry?” The matchmaker broke the moment between you two.

“Yes,” he answered, completely sure. Your response was quiet, just a short nod as you clutched the flowers in front of you like a vice, your hands were so thigh your knuckles were white. He blamed it on the stress once again. All the nervousness of moving out of your house, all the changes… It was normal. Everything was normal.

But it wasn’t.

For the first couple of days, he couldn’t blame you for anything. You were nervous about your new house, always trying to do something around the house even when he told you to calm down and relax. He was hyper aware of every single movement you did, he hoped the nervousness would soon fade away. But it didn’t. He brushed it off, it had only been a couple of days and you were acclimating to your new life.

You cleaned and cooked and went to bed early. All of the things he wished in a wife. You took care of the house and him, and he was grateful for it. You were quirky and weird, and sometimes he caught sight of you talking to yourself around the house. He didn’t think too hard about it, thinking you were just a bit special.

Your mom came to visit a couple times, always asking weird questions and wanting to speak to you alone. He guessed it was because you were a new bride and she wanted to ask about stuff that he wasn’t supposed to know about. It annoyed him a bit that you were so secretive, but he didn’t press the issue. Just new wife stuff.

But he started noticing little things that didn’t look normal or okay. It wasn’t just you being quirky and a little weird. You talked to the walls, you looked over you shoulder constantly. And at night, when you were sleeping next to him, sometimes you would shake with uncontrollable tears and he couldn’t wake you. He held you against his chest and worried about you all night long. In the morning, you would brush it off angrily and tell him it was probably just nightmares. The sadness haunting your eyes was more present than ever.

It didn’t stop there. The second month of marriage, he started to really worry about you. He did all the shopping and hunting because it was more convenient due to his daily trips to the market to sell the meat. You didn’t really have a reason to leave the house, but it was starting to become a problem.

You looked worn out, like your whole existence was tired and you were fighting a war he couldn’t see. He wanted you to trust him, he wanted you to tell him if something was wrong, but every time he tried to talk to you, you closed off and went to sleep. You slept so much he thought you were sick, but you assured him you were okay, just tired. You became agitated every time he asked so he stopped asking, but didn’t stop worrying. He observed you constantly. You did everything you could for him, but you didn’t take care of yourself enough.

His protective instincts were alert all the time around you. His worry grew and grew. And so did his affection for you. You looked so peaceful and pretty when you slept, so content to be laying down after a day doing chores around the house… But when you were awake it was like something was trying to catch you.

Until one day he had enough. You hadn’t left the house since the wedding. He asked you to accompany him to places, but you always refused, telling him you had too much to do inside. He didn’t understand what you had to do, getting increasingly annoyed until he left without you.

“We are going out,” he announced, not leaving room for arguments.

You turned around so fast you lost balance and had to grab the wall for support. “No! I- No, I have stuff to do.” You tried again, but he was not having any of it.

“You can do it later, let’s go out. Let me show my wife off,” he joked, trying to lighten the mood. He knew there was something big happening, but he couldn’t figure it out. What he did know was that you refused to be seen with him outside and that hurt his feeling a little bit. He just wanted you to be comfortable with him.

“Okay…” Your tone was defeated, like you would gladly do anything else but to go out with him. It hurt his feeling, but he didn’t care, he was worried about you and some fresh air would probably do you good.

The dinner was awful. You kept looking around like there was something out to catch you. All the way to the tavern you kept looking over your shoulder to the point he became a bit paranoid, too. He asked, but you brushed him off, telling him that you thought you heard an animal. But he knew that was a lie. He chose not to press on the matter, trying his best to remain cheerful, trying to make you feel better about the whole thing.

It didn’t work.

When you arrived home, you went to the bathroom and locked yourself inside for hours. He didn’t know what he did wrong, but he could hear you crying across the door and it was breaking his heart. He fucked up so bad. He didn’t know how to deal with it now. He tried to knock on the door, but you cried out louder, telling him to go away. He complied, confused about what happened and worried to the bone.

That night he realized two things about you: 1) there was something wrong happening with you and had no idea how to fix it. And, 2) he was starting to care about you more than a companion, so much affection filling his chest when he thought about you that it hurt.

You weren’t just his wife, not just his partner to come back home to. You were much more than that, warm feelings blossoming inside his chest every time he thought about you. And it was driving him insane to see you suffering so badly. He had to fix it.

One day, out of the blue, he asked you: “Are you unhappy?” His voice broke a bit at the end, sounding too high for his deep usual tone.

You, doing some needling next to him looked up confused. “What?”

“Is it someone from your past? Are you in love with someone else?” He asked. He knew he would let you go if that was the case. He didn’t want to, but he would if that would make you happy. If you were so sad around him that you cried silently every night, and your body shook with pent up tiredness other times… He would let you go. He would not be the reason you were unhappy.

“What? No.” You were completely confused as why he would think that.

“You are always looking around. You cry very day and someday when I come home from hunting you haven’t left the bed all day, I can tell by the smell in the room. You… Do you want to come back to your parents?” He finally asked, his heart breaking as the words left his mouth.

“No!” You exclaimed. Your outburst made him shut up and look at you like you were a stranger in his house.

“I don’t understand,” he confessed. He didn’t understand anything of what was happening. You were clearly unhappy there, but you also refused to come back to your parents. He was so worried about you it pained him to leave the house in the morning, and still you wouldn’t trust him.

You looked over his shoulder, lost in thought for a few seconds. “I- I’m not well,” you confessed. Something inside of him broke at your words, he knew he fucked up. He knew you weren’t happy. But hearing you say it out loud was more painful than expected. “Not like that! I’m- I’m not not-happy here,” you clarified. He sighed in relief, but the worry didn’t leave him. You didn’t say you were happy either. “There’s… There’s something wrong in my head. I’m not normal. I never wanted to marry, but my parents were worried they would leave me on my own and, and… I’ll try harder. I swear. Please don’t send me back.” You told him, a sob breaking from inside your chest, so sad and profound that his heart hurt for you. It was so painful he reached out and pulled you to him, hugging you tightly. You sobbed against his chest until your body went limp and he could hear your breathing evening out.

Things became a bit better after that, but you still didn’t leave the house, and he was still worried. But a bridge was built there. He could feel it. You kept being weird around the house, but you tried harder, you even walked around the back garden at times. He caught you talking to yourself a couple times there, like you were talking to the flowers. Warmth filled him every time he saw you smile, even if it never was in his direction.

But things got worse once again. You hadn’t left your bed for two days and he was worried you were sick. You reassured him you weren’t, just tired. He was tired, too. Tired of you not trusting him, tired of being worried about you.

He sat next to you in the bed and helped you sit down, too. “We need to talk,” he told you, sadness filling his tone. He had decided to send you back home. To send you back to your parents or anyplace you wouldn’t be so sad.

He was hurting from seeing you hurting and he had nothing else to do if you didn’t trust him enough to let him help. His protective instincts were screaming inside of him constantly, and he was just… tired. Not tired of you, but tired of the whole situation and his inability to do anything to remedy it.

“What? I’ve been good. I didn’t cry,” you told him. And it was true. You haven’t cried since last time you two talked about it, but something in his eyes made you stop. “You are going to send me back,” you told him, a lonely tear running down your cheek. He softly wiped it away, a sad smile playing on his lips, tusks gleaming under the soft light.

“I want to have you around, I want you to be here, but if you aren’t happy…” He tried to explain. He meant the words, too. He came to care about you so deeply and profoundly that it was hurting him to see you struggling and not being able to help.

“I am. I am,” you tried to argue.

“Are you, though?” He asked, lifting your chin with his fingers. “You don’t leave the house, you don’t tell me what’s wrong and I don’t know what to do anymore.” His defeat hurt you too, more tears running down your face silently.

“I- I just…” You tried, but a sob broke through.

He lifted you to his lap and hugged you. “Tell me what’s wrong, please,” he pleaded, a single tear leaving his sad eyes. You wiped it away with your tiny hands, a sad smile playing in your face as you gave up on trying to be something you weren’t.

“I don’t know where to start,” you confessed, your arms embracing his shoulders as you hid your face in his neck.

“Start from the beginning,” he whispered against your hair, softly caressing your back up and down.

“I have something… My brain is not right,” you told him. His strong hands caressing your body and his warmth around you were enough for you to feel brave. “Sometimes I’m so happy I could burst, but when it passes I feel so drained I can’t get out of bed. And it’s so tiring, and so frustrating. And I don’t know what to do.” You started crying again and he held you tightly, even more so. Your breath was almost squeezed out of you, but you didn’t care, it felt wonderful to have his arms around you. “It’s like there’s two sides of me and I don’t know how to control it. And then there’s the missing parts. Sometimes… sometimes everything is so overwhelming and so much that my brain stops. And then I don’t know what happened and… I don’t remember the first time we meet. What kind of wife can I be if I don’t even remember when we met?” You were sobbing by then.

His heart broke for you once again, not fully understanding what you were saying but caring for you so much he couldn’t hold himself when he saw you suffering so hard. It felt like everything you did lately was crying in his arms and he didn’t know what to do. He didn’t know how to help. He murmured sweet nothings against your hair and caressed your back until her breathing evened out, and you calmed.

“It’s okay, sweetheart. It’s okay. How can I help?” His answer caught you off guard, you pulled away from his body and looked at him intently.

He looked at your stunned face as you asked: “You… you want to help?” The surprise in your face made his chest hurt painfully, like someone was stabbing him. But you continued talking, tears pickling at the corner of his eyes seeing you in pain. “But wait. There’s more.” He motioned for you to continue. “I see stuff. It’s like shadows, or sometimes more vivid, it’s like there’s stuff there in the corner of my vision and they follow me. Sometimes they feel real to me, when you asked me who I was talking to I really thought there was a lady there. And sometimes animals, and people who died. Sometimes they are scary, sometimes they are comforting to me… Sometimes I don’t know what’s real and what’s not. But they are so tiring. I’m so tired.” You cried in his arms, making a poodle of snoot and saliva over his shoulder. At any other point, you might be embarrassed aboit it, but in that moment you needed the comfort more than the shyness.

“You have visions?” He asked, his turn to be amazed by you. He didn’t know people could have visions, not humans at least. In his village, where he grew up, there was this old lady who said could talk to the dead, and sometimes she said stuff nobody alive could have told her. She was celebrated in his village, why was that such a problem for humans?

You were looking up at him with the most pitiful look he’d ever seen, face bared of pain but so much emotion building there. “Hallucinations, they call them.” He didn’t know that human word, but by your reaction he could guess it wasn’t a welcomed thing like the lady in his village.

He was deep in thought, trying to understand everything you were saying, trying to process all the new information. “Okay… How do we make them go away? How can we help you to feel better?” He finally asked, making you gasp in his arms.

“We? You don’t think I’m crazy?” You asked, looking at him like he held the moon. His heart soared inside of him, looking at you like you were the answer to all his prayers.

“No. Of course not,” he assured you, his tone so sincere a new wave of tears filled your eyes. “You are special. We already knew that. I already knew that. But if you say you are not not-happy,” he repeated your earlier words with a soft smile on his lips, “then we can make it work.” You cried harder at his words. He whispered some more stuff against your hair and you hugged him tightly. You thanked him so many times he cursed all the people in your life that made you feel like you weren’t worth fighting for. “I’m not sending you away. I want you around,” he concluded.

“But… why? It would be easier for you to send me away. Some… Before meeting you some men rejected me because of my brain stuff.” You explained. The thought still made you feel shitty and rejected, but being there, in his arms… It made it a bit better.

He growled at that, possessiveness showing in his eyes. “I don’t care for easier. I care for you. How can we make this better?” He asked again, softness filling his eyes as he looked at you.

You searched in his eyes for the answers of a thousand questions before telling him the truth. “I take some meds every morning and... I- I don’t really know. It helps when I’m not alone. It helps if I go out with someone. I- I need you to take care of me. And I… I like to take care of you.” He caressed your face tenderly.

“Okay. Okay. We can work with that. I can take care of your every need, I can go with you to anywhere you wish,” he promised.

But something was still bothering you. “And when… What if I just want to lay in bed for days and cry?” You asked. He knew a question like that was arriving, and he was more than ready to answer.

“Then I’ll hug you thigh and lay beside you. I can’t fight your demons for you, but I can be here when you need me. I can do that. Is… Would that be enough?” The unsureness in his tone made your heart melt.

“I- I think so,” you answered, amazed.

“I need you to promise me something first.” You nodded. “If something changes. If something gets worse… If you want to leave me…” His heart was beating so fast you could hear it through his shirt where your ear was still resting. You looked up at him expectantly. “Would you tell me?” You nodded again, kissing his chest right above his racing heart.

“I promise I’ll try.” That had to be enough, you didn’t know what it would happen in the future, but you could try for him.

“That’s good enough for me. Trough better and worse. I- I have another confession to make,” he looked at the wall, not making eye contact with you. You reached and pulled his face down so you could stare into his beautiful yes. He sighed and confessed, “I… I think I’m falling in love with you.”

“You what? But I- I’ve been…” you struggled to say the right words. “How could you-” He didn’t let you finish that thought, covering your mouth with one of his big fingers. You looked at him as he leaned down and pecked your lips, a soft smile lighting his features.

“I don’t know if I…” You started, not wanting him to keep you around if it wasn’t exactly like he wanted.

“But you could, right? Someday… Someday you’ll love me,” he tried, eager to know your answer to that. He didn’t care if you didn’t. He had enough love for both of you.

“Yes,” you confirmed. You were sure of that, you were halfway there already. He was so good to you.

And for the first time, you smiled up at him. A real smile, one without sadness in your eyes, and his heart melted completely. If he had doubts about keeping you, they banished that exact moment. He knew without doubt he would do whatever it took for you to be comfortable with him forever.

He would love you forever.

Through better and worst.