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"You were humming,"I tell her.

Her brows lift.

"Was I?"

"You were."

"Huh."She pops a berry between her lips. "Must be going soft."

I don’t smile but I do lean forward.

I rest my hand on the table beside her, let my fingers graze her wrist.

"That’s a good thing."

She exhales, something almost like relief in her expression because she doesn’t have to be a weapon anymore.

She doesn’t have to fight for every breath.

She can just be herself and so can I.

I am no one’s heir anymore.

I am no one’s son.

I am just hers.

That is all I ever wanted to be.

"Are you happy?"she asks me one night.

The fire is low.

The sea is loud beyond the cliffs.

She is wrapped in my arms, warm against my chest, safe.

I don’t answer at first because I have never had the luxury of happiness before.

I have never thought it was something I could have.

But she is here and I am alive.

"Yes,"I whisper against her hair.

"Are you?"

She exhales, curling closer, pressing her lips to my skin.

"I think so."

And I close my eyes, savoring this. Us.

I have everything I ever wanted and nothing will ever take it from me again.