Chapter 6 Thinking of her

The hallway was silent as Lucas walked toward Emily’s room, the muted sound of his footsteps barely disturbing the stillness of the house. Everyone else was asleep. The world felt paused, suspended in that fragile hour between night and morning. Yet his mind refused to rest.

He kept seeing her the way she had looked earlier. Small. Vulnerable. Curled in on herself like she was bracing for another blow that never came. The image followed him no matter how hard he tried to push it away. He told himself he was only checking on her. That it was responsibility, not curiosity, driving him forward. But the truth was heavier than that.

Something about her had lodged itself deep inside him.

Lucas stopped outside her door. His hand lifted, hovering inches from the handle, uncertainty tightening his chest. He had no right to be here. She deserved privacy, peace, space to breathe after everything she had been through. Turning the knob felt like crossing a line he wasn’t sure he was allowed to cross.

But what if she was awake?

What if she was scared?

What if she needed help and no one came?

The thought settled the debate.

He turned the handle slowly and eased the door open, careful not to make a sound. The room was dark except for the pale spill of moonlight slipping through the curtains. It washed over the bed in soft silver, illuminating Emily where she slept.

Lucas froze.

She looked different like this. Without fear tightening her features. Without the tension in her shoulders. Her face was calm, lashes resting against her cheeks, her breathing slow and even. For the first time since he’d found her, she looked… safe.

The sight hit him harder than he expected.

He stepped farther into the room, moving quietly, as if even the air might break the moment. Standing beside the bed, he watched her chest rise and fall. Watched the faint movement of her lips as she exhaled. It grounded him in a way nothing else had all night.

For a long moment, he did nothing but stand there.

A strange ache settled in his chest. Protective. Fierce. Unwanted and undeniable.

She shouldn’t have been alone. She shouldn’t have gone through whatever had driven her to him in the first place. And the fact that she had, the fact that she was here now, sleeping under his roof, made something in him harden with resolve.

Lucas reached out before he could stop himself. His fingers brushed gently against her hair, pushing a loose strand away from her face. The touch was light, barely there, yet it sent a jolt through him all the same.

She didn’t stir.

“You’re safe now,” he murmured, so softly it was almost just a thought. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”

The promise felt heavy the moment it left his mouth. Not careless. Not impulsive. Real.

He straightened, forcing himself to step back. Lingering too long felt dangerous. Not because of her—but because of what he felt growing inside himself.

With one last look at her sleeping form, Lucas turned and quietly left the room, closing the door behind him just as carefully as he’d opened it.

The walk back to his bedroom felt longer than it should have.

When he finally lay down, sleep didn’t come easily. His body was exhausted, but his mind refused to slow. Every time he closed his eyes, Emily’s face surfaced again. The way she had looked at him earlier. The fear she’d tried to hide. The trust she hadn’t even realized she’d placed in him.

He rolled onto his side, staring into the darkness.

This wasn’t supposed to matter. She wasn’t supposed to matter. She was just someone who had needed help. Someone passing through his life by chance.

So why did it feel like more?

Lucas exhaled slowly, rubbing a hand over his face. He told himself he was overthinking it. That this was just adrenaline, just the aftermath of a long day. But the feeling refused to fade.

There was a pull there. Quiet. Persistent.

As sleep finally began to claim him, his thoughts slipped into dreams without his permission. Emily was there, standing in sunlight instead of shadows. Laughing. Free. The sound of it warmed him in a way that felt dangerously close to hope.

They walked together in his dream, side by side, no fear between them. No darkness chasing her steps. Just warmth. Just peace.

And yet even in sleep, unease crept in. A sense that something fragile was forming. Something that could be taken away if he wasn’t careful.

Lucas stirred, brow furrowing as his dreams shifted, twisting between desire and warning. He knew instinctively that getting too close could cost him. Could cost her. Danger had a way of finding people like Emily. And anyone standing too close to her would feel its reach.

Still, even with that knowledge, one truth remained unchanged.

He couldn’t turn away.

As the night stretched on, his sleep deepened, but his resolve hardened. Whatever had brought Emily into his life had done so for a reason. And whether he understood it yet or not, he knew one thing with absolute certainty.

He would protect her.

No matter what stood in the way.

And as the house settled into silence once more, Lucas slept with that vow etched firmly into his heart, unaware that the choice he had already made would change both of their lives forever.