Authors Note: My second ever X-Files fanfic, please, let me know what you think.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
He held her tightly through her half whispered confession; a confession that surely broke both their hearts, and he closed his eyes tightly to stop his own tears from falling as he felt hers hit his neck.
Stroking a hand through her hair he pressed her tighter to him, rocking her gently as what had begun as silent tears emblazoned into fretful, shattering sobs that caused her body to convulse and pitch heavily against his.
He knew that this was the first time she had allowed herself to cry wholeheartedly for the loss of their son, for William. She would have bottled everything up inside, not allowing anyone, not even herself, to catch a glimpse of the sheer amount of guilt and emptiness she felt in her heart.
Hearing her ask for his forgiveness pushed him further than he thought possible, and he felt the tears he so desperately tried to hold in, begin to make tracks down his cheeks.
When his soft reassurances that she had done nothing wrong, nothing that warranted him needing to forgive her, fell on deaf ears he realised there was only one thing left that he could do.
'I forgive you' he whispered, pressing his mouth to the side of her face.
When neither the rate or her sobs nor their volume decreased he found himself pulling her further into his lap, all the while repeating his new mantra: 'I forgive you.'
With each passing moment she spent curled into him and with every repetition of those three words she began to relax further and further into his embrace; her heart breaking sobs quieting to only soft gasps as she tried to catch her breath.
Brushing his fingers down her cheek he gently began to wipe away the tears that still continued to fall, although now silently, before proceeding to press butterfly kisses along her jaw, making his way slowly to her lips.
Breaking from the kiss he rested his forehead against hers, 'Now you just have to forgive yourself.'