Evaline:
Physically, I was fine.
That's what they kept telling themselves. That's what I kept telling them. But apparently, being "fine" didn't mean I was allowed to do anything on my own.
I wasn't allowed to walk too much, wasn't allowed to train, not even wander too far within the mansion without at least one of them hovering close enough to catch me if I so much as stumbled.
At first, I had tried to protest, lightly, half-heartedly. But that lasted all of five minutes before I realized something, none of them was going to budge. Not even a little.
And honestly…
I didn't try very hard after that.
Because if being forced to rest meant being wrapped in warm arms, buried against steady heartbeats, and kissed like they needed to remind themselves I was real... then maybe I didn't mind it so much.
River was always the quiet one during those moments. He didn't say much. Didn't ask questions. He just held me like he was anchoring himself to me as much as I was to him.
