Then trust me, Zavien pleaded, and Soh blinked, surprise threading across her features, because of course she trusted him. She'd trusted him with her heart, and that was everything she had to give.
A sudden understanding dawned then, because if she trusted him with that - with all of her - then surely she had to trust that he knew her, intimately and completely. Sure, there may be things that they had yet to learn about each other, but deep down, she trusted that he knew who she was.
He knew who she was, and he loved her anyway.
Wonder crept into her face, awe at the fact that she'd gotten to lucky as to be loved by this man - someone who wouldn't run away at the first sign of difficulty, but would sit here with her in her fears and reassure her that they were nothing in the face of the relationship they were building. Zavien was here, still holding her, still gripping her hand. He wasn't leaving.
He wasn't leaving.
"Sometimes it feels like everyone I've ever cared about has left," she whispered thickly. Her parents, Auden, Jude, Koa, even Colt - every relationship she could think of, save for Flora, had ended in heartbreak for Soh. Family torn apart, friendships that simply faded away, relationships that never went anywhere, it had all coalesced into a ball of hurt that she carried in her chest to shape her into someone fragile and afraid. But she'd trusted Zavien anyway. She loved him anyway.
Maybe she was stronger than she gave herself credit for.
"I thought I was cursed," she continued, brow creasing as her brain rapidly parsed this new information. "So I thought... I thought the problem was me. That I'd do something - I don't even know what. Make a mistake, be too much, be too me - to make anyone who loved me leave, eventually." She tilted her head to one side, the hand that had brushed the necklace moving back to Zavien's cheek. It wasn't a question of trusting him - it was a question of trusting herself. But didn't that amount to the same thing in the end?
"But you're not leaving." It was a statement, not a question, a statement that held all the wondrous emotion that bubbled up in her chest at the realization. "You love me - all of me - and you're not leaving." A slow, shy smile spread across her face. Knowing that - trusting that - was something she would have to get used to. But she could, because Zavien would give her that grace.
A sudden understanding dawned then, because if she trusted him with that - with all of her - then surely she had to trust that he knew her, intimately and completely. Sure, there may be things that they had yet to learn about each other, but deep down, she trusted that he knew who she was.
He knew who she was, and he loved her anyway.
Wonder crept into her face, awe at the fact that she'd gotten to lucky as to be loved by this man - someone who wouldn't run away at the first sign of difficulty, but would sit here with her in her fears and reassure her that they were nothing in the face of the relationship they were building. Zavien was here, still holding her, still gripping her hand. He wasn't leaving.
He wasn't leaving.
"Sometimes it feels like everyone I've ever cared about has left," she whispered thickly. Her parents, Auden, Jude, Koa, even Colt - every relationship she could think of, save for Flora, had ended in heartbreak for Soh. Family torn apart, friendships that simply faded away, relationships that never went anywhere, it had all coalesced into a ball of hurt that she carried in her chest to shape her into someone fragile and afraid. But she'd trusted Zavien anyway. She loved him anyway.
Maybe she was stronger than she gave herself credit for.
"I thought I was cursed," she continued, brow creasing as her brain rapidly parsed this new information. "So I thought... I thought the problem was me. That I'd do something - I don't even know what. Make a mistake, be too much, be too me - to make anyone who loved me leave, eventually." She tilted her head to one side, the hand that had brushed the necklace moving back to Zavien's cheek. It wasn't a question of trusting him - it was a question of trusting herself. But didn't that amount to the same thing in the end?
"But you're not leaving." It was a statement, not a question, a statement that held all the wondrous emotion that bubbled up in her chest at the realization. "You love me - all of me - and you're not leaving." A slow, shy smile spread across her face. Knowing that - trusting that - was something she would have to get used to. But she could, because Zavien would give her that grace.
Sohalia
Minor powerplay allowed without permission.
Feel free to use force/magic on Sohalia.
Feel free to use force/magic on Sohalia.
