A Reason...

As the soft music played in the background, she could only stare out the window in silence. He had known, known all along why she was here and just what she had and was giving up to keep it that way. All her hard work had gone down the drain in that instant, and that was when she realized he had spoken the truth. If she had found out earlier about his knowing, she would have left, would have been gone before he got back. Even now, the urge to just bolt, to run away before everything else fell apart was nagging at her.

But she couldn’t, not after all the trust he had put in her, trusting her to be there, even when he knew that it was the opposite of what she was compelled to do. And no matter what happened, she just couldn’t break that trust, no matter that even if she did, she wouldn’t see him again.

“You promised, you know,” he mumbled, coming to stand behind her.

“I know…” her voice was quiet, barely heard over the low volume of the music.

“You were always a person of your word.”

“And it has gotten me into more trouble than it’s worth.” Solemn moods were not her, but at this moment, it just felt so right that she couldn’t bring herself to break it.

“I won’t let you get in trouble, not after all I had to go through!” The fierceness in his voice startled her, causing her head to whip up. He was still staring out the window, face illuminated by the moon and stars. Slowly he turned to look at her and when she looked into his eyes, she could only smile.

“I know…and I trust you with that,” she whispered, her smile spreading into a grin.

She knew he would do all he could to protect her. If she ever had any doubts, one look into his eyes changed that.

And she fell asleep peacefully, realizing that maybe there was a reason she had come here and a reason why she had ignored her feelings and continued to stay. And that reason was standing silently by the window staring up at the stars…