The room was very dark. She stood there for a few minutes, allowing her eyes to adjust. As she did, she could hear his deep breathing coming from across the room. She sighed in relief: he was wonderfully alive.
She crept to the right edge of the bed since she knew he slept on the left, feeling her way in the dark. Suddenly, she felt cold steel pressed against her neck.
"George, it's me," she whispered hurriedly.
"Are you tryin' to give me heart attack, lass?" He asked as he lowered his knife.
"I'm sorry. I couldn't sleep and then I had to make sure you were alright."
"I'm fine. Why so concerned with my safety?" He pulled her down so that she was sitting on the bed.
"Just nightmares," suddenly she was nervous. "Would you mind," she took a breath and looked down at her hands, which were clenched in her lap, "would you mind if I stayed here tonight? When you were there the other night, even though I didn't know it, I was able to sleep. I think I just need to hear your heart beating and hear you breathing, otherwise I make myself believe that I lost you too and I can't bear it."
She felt his fingers under her chin as he turned her face up to his, studying her eyes. He nodded, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear and pulling the covers down so she could slide in next to him. She waited until he was settled before resting her head on his bare chest as he wrapped his arms around her. She felt warm to her very core and his heart beat pounding strongly in her ear calmed her down and assuaged all her fears. She sighed contentedly as he stroked her hair and softly kissed her head. After a little while, the exhaustion hit her and she sunk into a deep, dreamless sleep, with the sound of George's heartbeat echoing in her head throughout the night.
She awoke the next morning to find George staring down at her, his head propped up by his arm. He smiled at her as her eyes fluttered open and squinted against the glare of the early morning sunshine.
"How long have you been up?" she asked groggily, rubbing her eyes and yawning.
"Long enough"
"Long enough for what exactly?" she asked suspiciously.
"To realize how much I missed wakin' up next to you," he replied, the smile spreading on his face. She could see the love in his eyes along with their usually wicked twinkle.
She looked into their hazel depths, unsure of what to say. She had missed him as well and she needed him desperately, but love? She was barely managing her emotions as it was. She did not think she could handle contemplating love at the moment. She decided to simply say what was in her heart.
"Thank you," she said, raising her right hand to his face and running the back of her finger down his jaw line.
He seized her hand and held it there, twining his fingers through hers. "I didn't want you to be afraid. You can stay as long as you need to. Every night. I'm not goin' anywhere. Well, at least not until Jon and I figure out what is goin' to happen with the Swoop. I have a strong feelin' he isn't bein' completely honest about the condition of the castle and I may need to set one of the pickpockets on him next time he goes into the city to remind him who he is tryin' to fool."
And then something happened that neither of them expected. Something they thought would not see for weeks. Something they did not think was possible: Alanna's eyes lit up with their old spark and she laughed.