Blacktail Deer Plateau Under the moons waning gaze

Her words were like honey on his ears, so sweet and so desperately needed that he felt summer sunshine wash through him at the sound of them, banishing the cold emptiness he'd felt in the wake of Junior's death. They were, however, simultaneously so utterly unexpected that he was left stunned and speechless in the silence that followed. He stared into her face, his heart thundering in his chest and his breathing deep and fast. Had she truly just confessed that she was falling in love with him? Or was his mind playing tricks on him? As exhausted and stressed as he'd been since Junior's disappearance and death, such a thing wasn't out of the question.

So he stared at her, confusion and joy and pain etched in his face in a beautifully vulnerable mixture. "What…?" he asked breathlessly after a moment. "You…really?"