Challenge: Eyes and Linger
A/N: I started this drabble weeks ago for "linger", but it refused to come together for me then. I dusted it off this week and gave it another stab. This is the result. To my everlasting joy (and dumb luck), the word for this week was already being used in this drabble. Cheating? Perhaps, but I'm running with it anyway!
Ashes stirred around Sam's feet, settling on his skin and clothes. Tears ran unhindered down his face, creating dirty tracks on his cheeks. Looking beyond the charred remains of the home they'd shared, he lingered instead over each memory, clinging to her presence the way a drowning man clings to his ruined life raft. He ached to hold her, to hear her voice, smell her scent, if only for one last time. Tears finally spent, Sam dried his eyes and squared his shoulders. He closed the door, keeping his eyes averted from the cookies still resting where she'd left them.