Aftermath (Teddy) - Sunflower Beach

He held her, his hand caressing the back of her neck. "I love you, too. Hush, now. No more crying."

It really was easier said than done, though slowly, ever so slowly the tears would stop. A soft tremble still present, still noticeable in the way she clung to him, her body pressed to his as if desperate to feel him. Desperate to know he was there. With her....

"I love you so much..." the softly trembling blond in his arms whispered under her breath as soft cold lips brushed against his skin with those words. "You're everything to me Medwyn...." she whimpered, her own hands still holding him tight, still afraid of letting go, even as one snaked up the back of his neck to close her fingers in his hair.

He hugged her and kissed the top of her head with a quiet sigh. "I know. I love you, too."

It was very slowly that she pulled back, just enough to let her cheek brush against his as she did so, moving just enough to open her eyes and meet his gaze. Her lips lingering close to his but not touching, her unneeded breath soft and slightly trembling.

She.... she needed to know if he would look at her the same way... or if she had broken something beyond repair. A quiet plea in her own eyes as one hand left his shoulder to cup his cheek gently, almost as if asking his permission to do so.

Please, oh please... please...

The way he looked at her didn't change. He didn't move to her hand, but he didn't seem to be shying away from it, either. He did, however, quirk a brow at her. "Why do you look like I stabbed your puppy?"

He didn't shy away from it, but... she very gently pulled it away when he gave no real reaction to it either.
"Will you ever trust me again...?" Teddy asked in a pained whisper, though, while she pulled that hand away, she didn't move from where she was. Because she needed so badly to feel him there, to have his touch... she wanted so badly to still be his... to still be his angel... but right now she felt like she didn't even have the right to touch him.

He sighed. "Give it time, Teddy. I'm sure it will be fine."

She held back the tears, but that was about all she could do too. Her eyes closing as she lowered her head.
Still ashamed. Still very much broken.

The arm that had still been around him slipping away so both her hands could come to rest gently on his chest, assuming he didn't push her away.

What she needed was not something he would give her, nor was it something she deserved.

The Caitiff didn't know what to do. So she fell silent for a while before whispering meekly with a broken voice as she very very gently moved to get off his lap.
"I'll go pack some clothes...."

He just looked confused. And maybe a little annoyed. "What? What's this? What are you talking about?"

At this point, annoyed made her cringe as if struck.
"I can't ask you to spend the day with me if you don't trust me..." she whispered very very quietly. "I-I can sleep at the workshop... and you can tell m-me when I can.. can come home ... right?" her voice broke with those words. The fragile little hope in them that he would let her come home to him again almost as pained as the smile she forced through the trembling. A few tears demanding they be let go to ease down her cheeks.
"I-unless you.... a trembling hand was lifted to her chest as she lowered her gaze again. Unsteady fingers touching above her heart, and the fear shining through in her voice. "rather stake me..." she said in a whisper, truly terrified at the thought as she'd never been staked.

He lifted one hand...

And smacked the back of her head. Not enough to actually hurt or anything. But enough to get her attention. "Now, stop that. I wouldn't be here, wouldn't have you in my lap, if I didn't want you there. If I didn't care for and trust you at least a bit. Stop it. There's no sleeping at the shop and no staking. Understand?"

She just kind of nodded once. She was much too broken to do anything else.

He didn't move to her touch like he used to. Didn't touch her like he used to. Didn't trust her as he once had... The blond didn't know how to fix it, or even if it could be fixed. And she certainly didn't know how to handle it.
So she seemingly reverted to a quite resigned state of submission, hoping, begging, in the back of her mind that she had not broken what they had... He didn't need to punish her. She was doing an excellent job at that herself.

That would be why he wasn't punishing her. He kissed the top of her head again and tugged her firmly back into his lap. "Now, that's settled. I'm sorry that I left without saying goodbye."

That caused a low sob to escape her, muffled against his shoulder.
"I'm sorry I made you leave..."though the look in his eyes, his words when he'd called her a liar? They'd burned themselves into her heart where the stinging pain still lingered and made her feel sick.
"Y-you went somewhere safe...right...?" she wouldn't ask him to tell her where, just that he'd been safe. Because on top of everything else, that had made her worry sick.

He nodded. "Yes, I did. But it still wasn't right. I shouldn't have left that way. Can you forgive me?"

The blond lifted her head, staring wide eyed at him with a tear streaked face. He was.. asking her forgiveness after what she had done?

Her lips parted as she struggled to keep from breaking down in tears completely. The blonds arms moving around Jim in an instant, tugging him close as if to kiss him only to stop herself with a low whimper just as her lips should've touched his.
No right... no right to touch him like that...

"T-there is nothing to forgive.." Teddy whispered, softly slipping her arms away from him, pulling back enough to lower her head again. "I love you.. there's nothing to forgive...

One hand lifted, to gently curl his fingers under her chin. Forcing her to look at him, to look up into his eyes. He wasn't letting her hide away from him now, any more than he ever did. Slowly, and with a gentle care, he brushed his lips over hers. Just a feather-light kiss, shaking his head as he spoke to her softly. "Yes, there is. I left. I walked out. I should not have done that."

She couldn't help it, the choked sobbing whimper that escaped her when his lips brushed against hers and sent a shiver through her body. Her fingers briefly pressing against his chest as her eyes drifted shut and another few tears eased down her cheeks to linger at her chin.
That touch... that he would still touch her like that...

There was nothing to forgive in her world. But knowing what those words meant when asking for them, even though she herself couldn't bring herself to ask for the same, those were the words she would give him.
"I forgive you..." the blond in his lap whimpered quietly, not dearing to move out of fear he might take that touch away.

The hand that had the fingers curled under her chin moved. They moved up, to caress her cheek, before they slipped easily through her hair. He was quiet for a few more moments. Then he sighed, the free hand he had moving up to rub gentle circles over her back. "Love... talk to me. You act as if you have been abused in the past. Were you?"

"N-no..." she said in a quiet whisper. "I've been beaten, I've been broken... but most Caitiffs are at some point in their life... I don't dwell on that..." Max whimpered, leaning into his touch as if starved for it. Still with a tremble and a lingering fear he might still take it away from her.

"I'm terrified..." she whispered. "That you'll hate me... that I'll lose you... that I've broken something I can never hope to repair. And I... I love you... I wanted so badly to be your angel.. and now..." the blond sobbed softly again. "Now I'm just a lying monster to you... I'm afraid you'll never look at me the same way... touch me the same way... that I can never regain your trust..."

He sighed quietly. "I came back. Does that mean anything at all? That I came back for you?"

"Yes...." Teddy whispered, slowly opening her eyes and meeting his gaze if he would let her. "You came back for me..." if he hadn't...

It was perhaps slightly hesitantly that she lifted one hand to cup his cheek with a trembling, but warm touch as he could feel, what to her, was her "natural" warmth return slowly to her body.
The other hand still resting on his chest above his heart, the blond slowly leaned in, pausing just as her lips ought to touch his. The warmth of them so close he could feel it, just as he'd feel the slight tremble to her touch.

"Yours..." just that one word, almost a question this time as she spoke it softly. A question if she was still his, if she was still allowed to touch him like that. A quiet plea and want to be held and loved by him.

Would he return the touch if she touched him? He held her, he was soothing her with the way his hands moved over her back and through her hair. Maybe...

Teddy closed her eyes and softly, lovingly, pressed her lips to his.

His eyes drifted closed the moment that her lips touched his. His hand at her back tightened, pulling her just a little bit closer. The other hand came up, to caress her cheek and hold her there, hold her where he could feel her lips pressing against his. It was a gentle kiss, but no less full of heat for it. It was unspoken, but there was little doubt to his answer:

Mine.

It was what she needed more than anything at the moment, that confirmation that she was still his. The touch stealing a low whimper from her throat as she leaned into his touch which was enough to send a shiver through her body while she kissed him softly, tasting him with gentle brushes of her lips and tongue against his. The hand that had rested at his cheek slowly sliding back and into his hair where her fingers closed into gentle fist as she let herself savour the moment. Savour him.

He heard her whimper, seemed to know how she needed that touch from him, that gentle nature that so few got to see. That was the thing about Medwyn. Though he was very rarely cruel, he was generally polite to all. But no one, save Teddy and perhaps Rhiana, had ever seen Medwyn be gentle and tender.

His lips moved against hers gently and yet, somehow, still possessively. His head leaned into the touch of her hands in his hair, and his lips curved into a gentle smile.