Chapter 73
Ciel
I watch Jack's sleeping form.
We'd only just gotten back to the house, after maybe two hours in the car, the kind of silence between us that isn't uncomfortable but heavy — the kind that settles on your shoulders and refuses to move.
Jack hadn't opted to eat when we got inside, hadn't even changed out of his clothes. He just walked upstairs like someone running out of energy mid-sentence and collapsed on the bed.
He didn't fall asleep. He blacked out.
The kind of exhaustion that swallows a person whole.
I stood there for a while, hovering at the edge of the bed, unsure if I should stay or go.But then he reached out — not with his usual confidence, not with the easy strength that's so naturally him — but gently, like he was asking for something without words. His hand caught mine just as I shifted away.
"Stay," he'd murmured, voice low and tired.
How could I not?
