Teddy’s rough hands grip her hips, and that’s when she realizes:
He’s losing himself, too.
She tightens around him, her pleasure wringing him out, just as he did for her.
He shudders, hips bucking and jerking of their own accord. He moans deeply, all ruin and relief, and the sound drags her final pleasure from her.
“You feel so good, Seren. Gods,” he groans, shaking his head like he’s thoroughly undone by her.
Her muscles soften, relaxing, wringing herself out, letting herself go.
He spills inside of her, wet warmth filling her, as he leans forward, forehead pressing against hers like devastation and devotion in a single motion.
For a moment, neither of them moves, like they are both quietly grieving something not yet gone. As if stillness might hold this together just a little longer. As if he’s realizing what this means.As if he’s realizing this is the end for them.
He kisses her forehead, but it feels different. Not affection, this time.
No—this feels heavier.
More final.
Because this is goodbye.
His eyes are closed as their foreheads rest against each other.
She already knows what he’s going to say. She’s known from the beginning.
“I made a vow, Seren,” he breathes, like the words say a thousand words he’ll never be able to give voice to.
“I know,” she replies. A devastated sigh slips from her lips. Her hands thread through his hair, caressing him. Because fuck—every part of her wishes he never made that godsdamned vow, and she hates herself for wishing it.
“I love you for the man you are, Teddy. The kind of man whose word is sacred,” she murmurs low. “But I hate that it’s also the reason we’ll never have anything beyond this moment.”
He huffs a short, pained breath. “I’m sorry I cannot give you what you deserve,” he breathes, his voice broken and jagged.
“I know,” she admits, though it breaks her heart to say it. “But thank you for giving methis.”
Teddy rolls himself off, lying beside her, and pulling her into the nook of his shoulder.
“I don’t deserve your gratitude, Seren.”
Seren looks up at him, brushing her golden curls from her face. “I know you cannot give me your heart, Teddy. But will you give me something else?”
“Anything,” he promises with no hesitation.
Her hands cup his face. “I know you would die for your family, your friends… but will you live for them? Will you live forme?”
He stills. The words steal Teddy’s breath. Silence deafens the room.
So Seren continues. “Forgive yourself. Making mistakes does not condemn you to a life of self sacrifice. You do not need to put yourself at the bottom of your own life. Your life matters, Teddy.Youmatter.”
Teddy’s fingers draw circles on her arm. He does not speak for a long time. Just lies with her in his arms.
“I think… somewhere along the way, I forgot I was allowed to.” The words slip from his lips like confession.
Devastation floods Seren’s chest for the man who feels so unworthy of a life that he hands it over to everyone else—his protection, duty, service. But she understands, too. That he is a man who was never able to survive becoming half of himself.
“You make me want things again, Seren. Dangerous things. Futures. Peace.You,” Teddy admits. “You make me remember there’s more to life than surviving it.”
