Coconut Grove Blooming like the shadows upon you I drowned beside

The world faded away into warmth, into the grounding feeling of arms around her and gentle assurances that she was safe. For a moment she could only think that it wasn't real — couldn't be real, she knew this, she'd learned this lesson so many times over; that when the world turned dark and quiet, and the hopeless thoughts crept out from their hidden places, "you're safe" was nothing more than a wish. Nothing but a mantra imagined in someone else's voice, because she couldn't trust promises from herself anymore.
She wanted to trust this.
Her breaths steadied; her pulse fell into a calmer rhythm. Reverie pressed her cheek to his chest, soothed by the sound of his heart. I - Her voice faltered, but it was stronger when she found it again, confessing, I feel safe with you. This time she didn't try to explain, or second-guess the sanity of it all. It was crazy, and ill-advised, and a betrayal of the first person she'd ever loved more than the taste of her own freedom. But was it really a betrayal if he was better without her?
Love was not always enough, she had learned, and told herself now that it was not wrong to think that they each deserved more than their love had ever given them. She didn't know if Boone could give her that, either, or even if she wanted to try. But she wanted the freedom to decide; the opportunity to try again, if she could let herself.