In his long life, he had never imagined finding someone like you. What was it that made you so special, he wondered? Maybe it was the way you kept coming back, trailing after him like a lost puppy, undeterred by the walls he tried to keep up. Maybe it was how you would listen to him, eyes wide, genuinely impressed, like he was more than the damaged soul he knew himself to be. Or maybe it was the way you could see some glimmer of goodness left in him—if there was any to find. You made him believe there was.

Yet he was terrified. The thought of losing you froze his heart. What if he touched you, let himself be close to you? What if the curse that had stolen everything he’d ever loved came for you too?