Strangeways, Here We Come

Three Little Words…

He hadn't been able to voice them yet. He felt foolish about it (they were monosyllabic, at most a measly four letters long, and yet they eluded him!), but the overruling part of him couldn't help but be cautious. After all, as small as they were, they had the power to change things. It wasn't so much that he couldn't physically voice them… Rather, it was the implications they carried.

He knew they were applicable to him, despite his best efforts to repress and deny it. But he was a logical man, and he knew they shouldn't be applicable – after all, he was old and poor and dangerous… And that was only the start of the doubts arising in him.

What if she didn't feel the same way? A horrible image kept popping into his mind: he would confess and she would nervously babble about it all being a misunderstanding, tripping over her feet in her haste to rush off. Maybe this relationship (is that what this was? He still couldn't believe it…) was simply a casual fling, or a means of comfort and feeling alive…

His heart told him differently, yet his mind managed to hold him off. Perhaps it would be easier if he didn't say it? That way, once she inevitably came to her senses (which would happen, surely; the precedent had been set, after all), perhaps it would hurt less.

…No, he was simply unable to sell that notion to himself. Still, all the wondering and worries were enough to make him bite his tongue.

But then, as tended to happen in their relationship (because that was what they had, wasn't it?), Tonks made the first move – only this time she was unaware of it. She had thought him asleep; he nearly had been, blissfully sated and worn-out. As usual, she cuddled up beside him and trailed her fingers through the maze of scars on his body. What was unusual was her then silently tracing letters onto his chest. The scar tissue numbed some of the sensation, yet he had clearly discerned each word as if it were burned onto him, branded on his very being – slowly, torturously, they spelt out I love you.

His heart began to beat rapidly and he hoped she hadn't noticed. He had just feigned sleep, not saying a word. He was such a bloody coward…

However, he couldn't stop her actions from giving him hope. Maybe one day they would both find the courage to say those words to each other… Until then, he contented himself with watching her slumber and tracing those same letters onto the smooth, flawless skin of her back. He took heart that when he did so, even though she was fast asleep, she always smiled.

If you review, I promise I won't be too shy to express my love and undying gratitude! ;)

Toodles,
- ish -