open | haven't I given enough?

[castitas]

Who: Kate Marsh + You
What: Catch All.
When: Late October — November + December.
Where: Various.

Content Warnings: N/A, threads will be marked appropriately.

Comments

[fidior]

[ Edward laughs again at that, softer this time but no less genuinely amused, genuinely happy, free arm lifting to brush his fingers across his eyes again for a moment — tears no longer slipping from the corners of his eyes, but some lingering moisture gathering, hot and wet against his lids. ]

It shall be our secret.

[ He smiles, this time wide enough that his eyes disappear into half-moons, that his mouth lifts to expose the sharp slant of his canines. His heart is so full it threatens to burst: a sensation he welcomes lovingly as he lowers his arm again to readjust his position, and when Kate speaks again he's sobering just a bit, looking down at her, smile softening.

He'd never lie to her — he won't claim as to how or when she might see her father, her parents, again. But he has to... maintain hope. He won't share his dark, aching thought: the one that thinks she likely won't reunite with her parents, the same way he won't reunite with his own. But.... even so, there is some hope, isn't there? Something that lingers at the end, far out in the distance. The little girl has a family that loves her dearly; she must keep remembering this. And sometimes, even when one knows in one's mind that the hope they're clinging to has no real merit, it still.... helps. Still keeps one going. He'd known that, out on the ice. There came a time when Edward knew, in his logical mind, that hope was lost. Still his heart insisted. Until the very end, it insisted.

His softer smile stays, and then he's giving a little nod, reaching to lift the book again and prop it on his lap. He moves his arm around her to fit more comfortably again after the brief bit of moving around a little, and settles in against Kate like that: warm, safe. ]

We have time, [ he assures her, fingers lifting to brush the book open, to gently find the first page. And he'll read through the story, voice slow and calm, heart full, all the way to the end, even if the girl drifts asleep somewhere inbetween. ]