Noctisardor Bypass life is about creating yourself.

Fig nearly lost all ability to think when he heard his name gasp from her lips, but it came rushing back to him when empty suddenly flooded the space between their bodies. He moved to follow her, but closed only an inch before he caught himself. She had disengaged, and while his brain frantically tried to kick itself back into gear to figure out why, it was silenced when she uttered those terrible words.

He stared at her, surprised, devastated, and almost panicked. The rational part of his mind could see clearly what this was, but someone had slapped duct tape over that guy’s mouth so he could only mumble quietly and incoherently in Fig’s ear. His passion had taken over, and that part of him felt absolutely certain that he was losing the love of his life, that he couldn’t let her walk away for even though he barely knew her, he’d never be whole again without her.

Fig took a breath to steady himself, searching for her eyes again. He didn’t know what to say, how to explain that he needed to stay. He would respect the space between them if that was what she wanted—he just couldn’t stand the thought of not being near her, of looking around and not being able to drink in the sight of her.

”I’m sorry if that’s not what you wanted to hear,” Fig said after a few dozen heartbeats, ”I won’t touch you again. I just… I don’t want to leave you. I don’t think I remember how.” A small smile flickered across his lips, though the words he’d spoken could not have been more true. He’d walked away from her once before in the Grove and it had been fairly straightforward. To walk away now would be like ripping the knife from his gut to bleed out beneath the willows.