sometimes i wonder, will god ever forgive us for what we've done to each other?
B E T H L E H E M
then i look around and realize, god left this place a long time ago
The heart beats so fiercely that he is certain she could hear it even without pressing an ear to his chest.
He’s certain she can feel it pulsing beneath his skin, in every place they touch.
But she tucks her head up under his chin anyway and he exhales something that resembles a contented sigh.
She murmurs his name and it takes the shape of a question. But he remains silent because it is how he is most comfortable. Instead of speaking, he presses his mouth into the space between her ears, leaves a kiss in the tangles of her forelock.
He does not know how they arrived here. He does not remember the cosmic shift, only the anger that had swelled so dangerously in the cavern of his chest, in the pit of his gut. It had left his nerves to riot but he is too thoroughly exhausted to entertain it now.
They both know he will leave but the softness in her tone suggests that she does not fault him for it. He hopes, certainly, that she will not hold it against him. He has never cared about the impressions he left but he wants her to remember him fondly. He does not want her to feel even an ounce of regret when she calls upon the memory, when she thinks of the shape his name took in her mouth.
He nods then, acquiescing to her request. He will stay until dawn. He can promise her at least this much. He owes her at least this much. “Okay,” he murmurs and closes his eyes, drags in a shuddering breath, hoping to consume as much of her as he can in what little time they have left.
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