Yuuta Okkotsu loved to fall asleep listening to the sound of your heartbeat.
Even though his request had seemed a little odd to you at first, on one of those nights of waning moon and glittering stars scattered across the vast dark sky, you ended up agreeing, because there was nothing more adorable than the faint blush dusting his cheeks, or the hopeful gleam that lit up his dark eyes whenever joy brushed against his soul.
The bed felt like a cloud, or perhaps a great ship drifting through the quiet night, and the white sheets, soft as silk and light as feathers, cradled the both of you in a perfect little bubble of peace.
“I’m sorry,” Yuuta murmured, his cheek pressed against your chest, his lips forming the slightest pout. Because even after spending months away in a place where it had been impossible to reach you, he had dreamt every night of a moment like this.
“Why?” you asked, your fingers gently massaging his scalp, sending a shiver through his entire body. Your hands, careful and tender, were already guiding him closer and closer to the gates of sleep.
His arms, wrapped around your waist, tightened just a little. Because Yuuta would never fully admit it, because someone like him, who was meant to be strong and composed, could be nothing but a complete mess in front of you. He could be nothing more than a boy afraid of losing you… or of being left behind.
“For leaving,” he replied in a small voice, burying his face further into your chest, as though he feared you might look into his eyes and uncover just how vulnerable he felt in that moment, as though he feared you might notice the tremor in his hands, in his lips, in his heart laid utterly bare before you.
“I’m sorry for… everything.”
You, however, only smiled softly in response. Couldn’t he see there was nothing to forgive? Couldn’t he understand that he was perfect exactly as he was, and that every tear he had shed was simply proof of his strength?
Because Yuuta Okkotsu, in that very moment, felt as though he were floating. As though he were back in Africa, and this was nothing more than a dream he would wake from at any second. Because it wasn’t possible, because he couldn’t allow himself to believe that…
You truly loved him, without a trace of resentment.
So he simply listened to your heartbeat, like a small divine drum that kept him alive, that stitched together his sanity and held it in place, because it was the only thing he knew for certain still tied him to a present where you existed beside him.
Because he wanted many presents with you. Moments where you could be together, live together, and fall asleep like this: entwined, happy, in love.
Because Yuuta loved to fall asleep listening to your heartbeat.
Because it was the only thing that, amidst so much death, brought him back to life.
author's note: i need cuddles rn.
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