I held the sob threatening to push through my throat, lips quivering like trembling branches during a storm. Hearing Ruith's emotions, what I meant to him, should have brought me peace and joy, but all I wanted to do was break down.
I raised my hand despite not really having the strength to do so and stroked my thumb across his damp cheek.
"You have to live for yourself, too," I murmured.
"What point is there if I'm all alone?"
I gritted my teeth. It was all I could do to not cry. "If only you cared about yourself as much as I do…then you wouldn't need to rely on someone else for your purpose."
A heavy tear caught on my thumb. "That's why I need you here to love me, because no one else will if you don't."
I pulled Ruith's face to mine until our foreheads were together in a way that was ours. "Please don't cry," I whimpered.
