He was so close, she mistook his heartbeats for hers. Even while she loomed at the fringes of slumber, she felt him beside her, she felt his strong arm curled around her and his fingers still laced with hers as though he didn't want to let go. As though he was scared to let go— afraid she would disappear from his life if he did just that. Let go.
He'd had people leave his life for good, their disappearance accompanied by a thicket of blood. After his mother left him without thinking about his welfare even once, Leo was certain that one day everyone he once held dear would leave him too. Hence most of the time, he kept his relationships vague so as to not get too attached to people, that way the void left by their absence would be trivial. But with Becca things were… different. He wasn't only attached to her, she was pivotal to his existence, like the air he breathed. Through her eyes, he saw himself in different lights. She made him want to be something he wasn't.
