Stone Circle Feeling Hotter Than a Glue Gun

West blinked as she started to speak, but quickly fell silent. Then an eruption of laughter followed something that shook him as heat rose to his cheeks. Was it laughable to ask that she wanted to be with him? Perhaps so, he hadn't made himself entirely desirable just now. A pit wanted to drop in his stomach and sink him to the bottom of the river, though before it had the chance to drown him...she continued.

It was like Polaris had said, they were both so fucking dumb. He felt like he had gone through a rollercoaster of emotions, but it seemed the end was finally in sight, something he could hold onto with certainty. The dull ache in his chest bloomed and spread through his body like vines. Honestly, he could probably cry again, but his eyes burned too much from the previous tears shed to even consider it. Instead, he fell into his own set of laughter. He could smack himself for how many hoops they just jumped through for such...a simple answer.

He didn't need to hear more, it didn't matter now. The boy threw a leg over her and pulled Polaris close, his face pressing into her neck as his chuckles died down, Thank you— It felt like more should be said, but he only feared messing up his words, so for now he would just hold her and hope it was enough to speak for him. He couldn't leave his family, not when they had stayed behind him time after time again, and now Polaris too. They would handle things and even Ursus couldn't stop them now. They'd push through...together.