Here? When he said 'here', did he mean...
Oh my God!
It seemed like I made quite an expression because he immediately leaned forward to kiss my cheek and temple and spoke in a soothing voice. "Ssh—it's okay if you say no, sweetheart," the hand he placed down there shifted upward, stroking my back in a pacifying action. I wondered if I looked frightened or something, because he was smiling quite anxiously. "It's alright, I'm just asking. You don't have to allow it."
He continued to pepper my face with light, soft kisses like he always did when I was having my panic episodes, and I started to relax. It was then that I realized I had been holding my breath. As I felt my hands getting warmed again, I also realized that my heart might have been in a stutter earlier.
How weird. I didn't think I felt scared, though? Perhaps just...surprised?
