Page 274 of Blackwood

“I’m sorry for being this much. A mess. A burden. Just too much.”

I shake my head. “You’re not too much, baby.”

Cade exhales slowly and steps closer, voice quieter but no less certain. “You’ve never been a burden, sweetheart. You’re everything. Brave, brilliant, beautiful, and still standing. That’s not too much. That’s miraculous.”

“We’ve got you,” I say. “Always.”

She blinks fast, eyes glassy.

I reach out and tuck a damp strand of hair behind her ear. “You wanna talk about it?”

She nods slowly. “It was… Luca. And blood. Everywhere. I thought I was in bed with you. With both of you. But it wasn’t real. It got all twisted. Zeke. My dad. Then you. All of you, you were dead.”

She starts to shake, staring straight ahead and not looking at us at all. “And he was there. In my head. In my body. Like he’d taken over everything.”

Cade’s behind her in a second, arms sliding around her waist from behind. She stiffens for a beat but doesn’t pull away. I meet his eyes over her shoulder. He sees it too. The tiniest crack in her wall.

Bella shifts slightly, her back still pressed against Cade’s chest, his arms wrapped around her like a safety belt. She sets her mug down with a quiet clink, then lifts one hand, resting it lightly on Cade’s forearm.

“You’re still coming later today, right?”

Cade’s arms tighten. “Hell yeah, sweetheart.”

“Always, baby,” I say. “We’ve been at every practice and we’re not stopping now.”

She nods and talks about Nationals, the nerves, the doubt. But when I tell her she’s still the best damn dancer I’ve ever seen… she smiles. And fuck, it hits me so hard I nearly die. That smile. The one we haven’t seen since before the funeral. Since before her world cracked in half. It’s small. Soft. But it’s real.

Cade presses a kiss to her temple from behind. She turns and reaches for me. Her fingers trace along my jaw, brushing up to my cheek like she’s relearning the shape of me.

“I love you,” she whispers.

Jesus Christ, I’m not okay. My heart fucking shatters. I grab her hand and kiss it. I breathe against her skin. “I love you so much, baby.”

But then I feel it, the smallest flicker of hesitation in her. That split-second edge of fear under her skin. I pull back and rest myforehead against hers. My chest is burning, but I won’t rush her. Not now. Not when she’s barely putting herself back together.

So, I do the only thing that makes sense. I hook one arm under her thighs, the other behind her back, and I lift her into my arms.

She gasps, soft and startled. “Lex…”

“I’ve got you,” I whisper.

Cade’s right behind me as I carry her down the hall. I push our bedroom door open and ease her onto the bed like she’s made of glass. She looks up at me, and for a split second, I see all of it—the war still going on behind her eyes. The guilt. The fear. The way she’s still trying to believe she didn’t cause this, that she’s not cursed, not poison.

I kneel down beside the bed, kiss the letters on inside of her wrist. “We don’t have to do anything. We’re not here for that. We’re here for you, baby.”

“I know,” she says softly. And this time, I believe her.

I tuck the blankets around her, every motion slow and reverent. She reaches for me before I can pull away.

“Stay,” she whispers.

“Always.” I strip off my wet clothes and crawl in behind her.

Cade climbs in on the other side, his hand brushing hers beneath the blanket. And for the first time in weeks, she lets us both hold her.

♥♥♥

Wexley, University