I froze. The world around me slowed until all I could hear was the heavy thud of my heartbeat in my head.
“Hey, Snow Queen.”
His low words, deep and raw, shattered me into a thousand pieces and a tortured sob tore from my throat.
Leon’s arms came around me, lifting me easily onto his lap and tucking me into his body. I turned into him and crushed my face into his chest as my tears soaked through the thin material of his shirt.
“Shhh,” he murmured into my hair.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry,” I whimpered, over and over, endless broken apologies falling from my lips as he stroked a hand over my hair and tightened his arms around my body, his heavy breaths vibrating against my cheek.
He pressed his lips against my temple.
“I’m sorry.” I shook my head again, knowing it wasn’t enough.
“I know,” he said softly, planting another kiss, his mouth lingering against my skin. He was quiet for a while, and then he murmured, his voice hoarse, “I love you.”
My eyelids fused shut, fresh tears overspilling. “You can’t.” I shook my head hard. “I can’t let you.”
He sighed. “You don’t get a say, baby.”
“You shouldn’t even be here,” I choked out.
He shifted, grasping under my arms, and moving me until I straddled his lap, his hands framing my face.
“You think after what you told me at Danny’s I could just let you walk away from me, Lissa?” he rasped, his brow marred by a deep crease as his unflinching stare crashed into mine.
My heart squeezed, my chest rising on uneven swells. “How could you ever forgive me?”
His head tipped, and he regarded me with soft blue eyes. “Because I know why you did it.”
A choked breath broke from my bruised lungs, and I lowered my head, looking down.
He knew. Riley must have told him. I couldn’t bring myself to feel any anger about her broken promise. “I don’t know that I have a future to offer you.”
He tipped my chin up, forcing me to meet his gaze. “Neither do I. Who does, baby?”
My head swayed side to side, my voice a whisper, “It’s not the same.”
His eyes narrowed on mine, grip tightening. “You leaving me won’t change the way I feel about you, Lissa. I don’t give a fuck what the future holds. I care about right now. Right here. That’s what you have to offer, and that’s all I’m asking for.”
I blinked, a lone tear streaking down my cheek. “You’ll want more. Eventually, you’ll want more than I can give you.”
“I’ll want you.” He leaned forward with a deep breath and pressed his forehead gently into mine. “I’ll only ever want you.”
“I’ll forget you.” Pain gripped my chest at the thought, caging the air in my lungs. “And then it will all be wasted, anyway.”
“No, it won’t.” He shook his head, his eyes gleaming as they bore into me. “I’ll remember every fucking second, Lissa. I’ll remember enough for the both of us.”
“Leon,” I breathed, reaching up and wrapping my hands around his wrists. “You don’t know what you’re asking.”
He exhaled a rough breath and closed his eyes, bringing his mouth to mine. “Just let me love you, Lissa,” he pleaded against my lips, “just… stop fighting and let me fucking love you.”
And then his eyes opened on mine with so much adoration I could have drowned in it.
He didn’t care that my path was so uncertain. He was here, and he was willing to take my hand and jump on board a train to nowhere, just to be with me.
Because it wasn’t the destination; it was the journey. And the people we travelled it with. However long, or short it might be.