Archive of Our Own ^beta

She was so incredibly worried about him.

Callum had been pushing himself far past his limits for about a month now. He'd been overworking himself way too much.

Of course, he had done that ever since Rayla 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵, but she was just finding out about this now.

It had not been a secret to anyone that Callum was a "workaholic," as Soren puts it.

Except for Rayla.

She had no idea how much she truly ruined him, just like she had no idea just how far he had been pushing himself.

She never meant for anything bad to happen to him. In fact, she left 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 she didn't want anything bad to happen to him.

She just wanted him to be okay.

Evidently, he was not.

Their group had been in Katolis for a little over a month now.

King Ezran and his Council were trying to plan what their next move would be. Aside from being present in the Council meetings, Callum had been going back and forth between his High Mage Office and the Castle's Library, doing whatever research he possibly could do on Aaravos. Strangely enough though, every mention of Aaravos' name disappeared before Callum even got a chance to read it, making the young mage very frustrated.

Rayla, however, had been wandering around the castle, feeling completely out of place and totally useless.

She didn't really feel as though she had fit in before, but now it was so much worse.

Ever since she came back, it was like she was just waiting for them to tell her to go away, or to tell her to just leave again, like she did two years ago.

Maybe she 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 leave again, if they really wanted her to. But she truly did want to 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺 this time.

If no one wanted her to be there though, she would take Stella and go.

However, Rayla was 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 for Callum. She wanted him to be okay at least. But she didn't know how much longer she could take it, feeling like Callum hates her.

He did not hate her though. He 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 hate her.

What Rayla didn't even consider thinking of, was that Callum had 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 to hate her. But no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't. He hated that she left. He hated that she lied. He hated how she utterly betrayed him. But he didn't hate 𝘩𝘦𝘳. She just thought he did.

There had been a council meeting, and Ezran invited Rayla to it. She had not been to a Council meeting before, so she happily obliged. But when they all waited on a specific someone, her happiness had slowly faded away.

It had been almost half an hour by now, and Callum still hasn't shown up.

Even when Opeli had suggested that they start the meeting anyway, Ezran quickly disagreed.

"King Ezran, I believe that we may need to start this meeting soon - "

"No! Not without Callum here!" Ezran interrupted. Callum would never miss a meeting without telling someone.

"As you wish, Your Majesty," Opeli politely bowed and sat back down.

After a bit of waiting and silence, Rayla piped in.

"I'll go and get him." She said quietly, looking down to avoid everyone's stares. Ezran simply beamed at her. Soren knowingly shared a look with Corvus. Rayla took Stella off of her shoulder, gently setting her down onto the table. Stella looked to her mother for a moment, and then quickly scurried over to where Bait sat, happily jumping up onto the Glow Toad.

Rayla got up and quickly left the room, trying to avoid any awkwardness with anyone in there.

She made her way to the High Mage chambers quite nervously.

𝘞𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘊𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘶𝘮 𝘣𝘦 𝘰𝘬𝘢𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳? 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨? 𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦? 𝘐𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘬𝘢𝘺? Those were the thoughts swarming her mind, making her more worried than she needed to be.

When she got to the doors, she took a deep breath, and knocked.

No answer.

Rayla's anxiety rose higher.

She knocked again.

Still, no answer.

She went ahead and opened the door, peeking her head in as she called out for him.

"Callum?" And there he was. He was fast asleep, snoring and drooling onto a book at his desk.

Rayla sighed in relief. 𝘎𝘰𝘰𝘥, 𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘰𝘬𝘢𝘺.

She walked over to where he sat sleeping. Rayla placed a hand on his back, but before she could shake him to wake him up, she noticed how unnaturally 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘮 he felt. Rayla's anxiety grew again. 𝘐𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘬? She placed a hand on his forehead. He was burning up. Now that she noticed his face, his nose was red and his eyes were puffy - it was like he had been crying.

Rayla placed her hand on his back again, shaking him awake.

"Callum," She said softly, dragging out his name in a singsong voice, trying to keep her anxiety out of it.

His eyes slowly blinked open. Once he noticed that she was there, he smiled softly at her, still in a tired haze. Rayla pulled her hand back and rested it on her knee.

"There's a council meeting you're missing-"

Callum's head shot up. He was completely awake now.

"Oh gods - oh no -" he said, looking around for his belongings, specifically for his sketchbook or something he would take notes with. Not the book he had just been drooling on.

Callum quickly stood up, still looking around frantically. In fact, he stood up so quickly he knocked his chair completely over.

Rayla and Callum both went down to pick up the chair at the same time, and they ended up bumping heads.

"Sorry! I'm sorry!" Callum almost shouted, pulling back and rubbing his head, wincing.

"No you're fine!" Rayla said, rubbing her own head when she stood up.

They both stood there for an awkward moment staring at each other, until Callum remembered the Council meeting.

"𝘚𝘩𝘪𝘵, we gotta go to that!" Callum said, looking around. He walked around the High Mage office, looking for a book.

When he couldn't find any he could write in, he ran his hand through his hair, almost panicking. Callum had been 𝘴𝘰 stressed lately, and this adding onto it made it so much worse.

"Callum?" Rayla startled him out of his thoughts. He 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 flinched when Rayla placed a hand on his shoulder, and he turned to look at her.

"Are you okay?" Rayla asked him, worry written all over her face.

Callum took a deep breath, trying his best to steady himself.

"I'm - I'm okay - yeah," he said, now looking anywhere but her face. Rayla was not convinced. She squeezed his shoulder slightly.

He then gently brushed her hand off of his shoulder. His chest shook as he tried to breathe.

"Rayla-" he blurted out between breaths. He sounded scared.

"Callum, hey - hey look at me - 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦, you need to breathe Callum," Rayla said as his breaths grew more shaky and unsteady. She turned his body to where he was facing hers.

Callum refused to look at her. Instead, his eyes were sealed shut as his breath became more rapid and shallow. His hands were balled up in fists at his sides.

Rayla took her hands off of Callum's shoulders, not knowing what to do.

"Do you want me to go, Callum?" She asked quietly and nervously, trying to be considerate although she was confused.

Callum's eyes opened wide and he quickly shook his head no. He reached out for her, desperately clinging to her shoulders.

"Don't go," he barely got out between breaths. Rayla set her own hands onto his shoulders, steadying him.

"Breathe, Callum," Rayla repeated softly.

Callum then pulled Rayla close to his chest. Callum holding her close to him slowly grounded him. Rayla simply held him tight. Her arms were wrapped around his middle, while his were wrapped around her shoulders.

Eventually, Callum's breathing had returned to a normal pace, but he still held onto her tensely.

After a while, Callum slowly pulled away. Rayla rested her hands on Callum's shoulders, and Callum held onto her elbows.

"Callum -"

"𝘋𝘰𝘯'𝘵. Don't say anything - please - please just 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺." Callum interrupted Rayla before she could say anything, his voice shaking.

"I was gonna ask if you're okay," she answered, a small smile creeping onto her lips.

Callum returned an even smaller smile.

"Sorry - sorry - but are you? Are you okay I mean?" Rayla apologized, noting his tired and somber expression.

Callum took a deep breath, nodding his head.

"Can we just skip the Council meeting or something?" Callum asked quietly, avoiding her gaze.

"Yeah, yeah of course Callum!" Rayla responded softy, trying to look him in his eyes.

He kept his eyes away from hers. Tears trickled down his face as he pitifully sniffled.

"Do you . . . Do you want to talk, Callum?" Rayla nervously asked.

She just wanted to make sure he was okay.

He obviously was not.

After a bit, Callum slowly nodded his head yes. Finally, he looked up at her, eyes filled with tears.

"Okay, okay," Rayla responded gently, guiding him over to the couch so they could have some place to sit down and just 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬.

When they both sat down, Callum looked down at the floor with his arms wrapped around his body.

Rayla looked at him.

She wanted to rest her hand on his shoulder again, but she did not. She wanted to comfort him, but at the same time give him the space he probably wanted and needed.

"I'm - I'm sorry, Rayla," Callum stammered.

"Why? Why are you sorry? You don't have anything to be sorry for, Callum!" Rayla responded softly and kindly.

"I don't want to worry you or anything like that," he said quietly, still looking away.

"Well, it's too late for that." Rayla joked, shrugging her shoulders.

Callum lightly chuckled at that. Rayla was happy that she finally got a positive reaction out of him.

His mood quickly changed when he finally started speaking though.

"I - I've just been 𝘴𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 lately - and I'm trying to do so many things at once - and everything is so overwhelming - and I need to 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 - I need to 𝘥𝘰 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 - I can't just wait around - I can't sit and do nothing - and I'm so 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 about 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨, I -"

Rayla placed a hand on Callum's shoulder, stopping him from spiraling.

He looked to her, his eyes wide and full of unshed tears.

"It'll be okay Callum. We'll figure out 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨. You don't have to do this 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘦, you know. You have Ezran, and Soren, and the Council, and . . . and 𝘮𝘦." Rayla said carefully, softly smiling at him.

Callum forced a smile of his own, but Rayla could tell he didn't mean it.

Callum looked away and back to the spot he had been staring at on the ground.

"I've looked through practically 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 book in the Castle Library - and everything that would even have a 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 of mentioning Aaravos just doesn't," He raised his hands in defeat, and Rayla pulled her hand back. "And if it 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 have something about him, the words just - poof! - disappear!"

Rayla did not know what to say. She wanted him to talk to her, she wanted to know how he felt, but now, she was speechless.

Callum turned to look at her.

"What do I 𝘥𝘰, Rayla?" He sounded so hopeless and scared.

"I - I don't honestly know Callum . . . but we will do this 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, okay? You aren't alone in 𝘢𝘯𝘺 of this." She responded, trying to be hopefull.

"Rayla - I need to figure out what to 𝘥𝘰! I have to stop him!" Callum was basically desperate at this point. Not to mention, he didn't believe her when she said "together." Not anymore at least.

"𝘕𝘰𝘵 at the cost of yourself." Rayla sternly said.

Callum looked away. Now 𝘩𝘦 didn't know what to say.

Callum raised a hand to his forehead, rubbing his face, and he cringed as if he were in pain.

He took a few deep breaths, trying the best he could to calm himself down.

Rayla didn't know what to do. She didn't know how to help. She 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 to help, she 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 to do something, but she just didn't know 𝘩𝘰𝘸 to.

Rayla placed her hand on his shoulder again, attempting to comfort him.

"Callum, are you feeling okay?" She asked as he struggled to keep his eyes open.

"What?" He said, surprise evident on his face as he turned to look at her.

Callum looked as though he were going to pass out or throw up. He looked 𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘬.

"You look 𝘣𝘢𝘥 - I mean like you look bad as in you look 𝘪𝘭𝘭! Not like you look 𝘶𝘨𝘭𝘺 or anything - you just look . . . 𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘬." Rayla stammered, trying to get the right words out. She smiled at him when he softly laughed - an 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭 laugh this time. But their joy was short-lived. His smile faded when he looked at Rayla. Her smile was completely gone. Instead, she looked uneasy and nervous. Her hands were now pulled up at her chest.

"What?" he repeated.

"Nothing - nothing, it's just . . . I'm 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 about you Callum," and it was clear that she was, in fact, worried about him.

Callum looked away from her.

Rayla still looked at him, and uneasily so. They were both quiet for a while before Rayla softly spoke up.

"Other than earlier . . . When was the last time you got some sleep? Like, a good rest?"

Callum's eyes widened, but he kept his gaze away from hers, leaving her question unanswered. His lips were pressed in a thin line and his brows furrowed.

"𝘊𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘶𝘮." Rayla sternly said, trying to get his attention, and trying to get an answer out of him.

"I don't know," Callum spoke harshly, now looking all around the room, looking anywhere but her worried face.

Rayla sighed. "You know, not getting any rest is not getting you anywhere. You're only hurting yourself more by pushing yourself like this."

"It doesn't matter!" Callum turned to her, rage building up, "and why do you even care? It isn't affecting you!" he pointed an accusing finger at her.

"It doesn't matter if it's affecting me or not, it is 𝘰𝘣𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘭𝘺 hurting you," Rayla tried the best she could to keep her voice calm and steady. "But you overworking yourself, and pushing yourself past your stupid human limits, isn't helping anyone! It certainly isn't helping you!"

Callum looked away from her, his anger leaving him as fast as it came. Rayla softened.

"Callum, come and get some 𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘱. You can help or whatever 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳. You deserve the rest." She spoke softly, much different from her tone earlier.

Callum sighed in defeat.

"𝘍𝘪𝘯𝘦."

And then after a minute of silence, Callum spoke again, much softer this time.

"Could . . . You stay here with me? If you want? I mean the council meetings are boring anyways, and you can just hang out here - with me - 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰," he said the last bit fast, but Rayla still easily understood him.

She grinned happily. "Yeah - okay - sure!" She said all too quickly, tucking a strand of hair behind her pointed ear.

Callum simply smiled back at her.

"I have to tell the others what's going on since they're worried about you, okay? I'll be right back," Rayla got up to leave so that she could tell the others where Callum was, but he quickly grabbed her hand, stopping her. Rayla looked back at him as he was standing up.

After staring at each other for a moment too long, Callum pulled Rayla in, wrapping his arms around her middle and hugging her tight. He tucked his face away into the crook of her neck. Rayla was taken back by this, but only for a few seconds before she hugged him back.

Then the moment was over. Callum pulled away first, smiling softly at Rayla.

"Thank you," he said genuinely, and she nodded her head.

He sat back down onto the couch as Rayla walked away. He watched her go, but before she opened the door to leave, she turned back to him, smiling. He knew that she would come back.

Rayla made her way back to the council meeting. She greeted the guards by the doors, smiling politely and telling them why she was there.

Once she was inside the large room, everyone turned to look at her.

"Took you long enough," Soren joked, earning him a light shove of an elbow to a rib from Corvus.

"Rayla! You're back! Is Callum coming?" Ezran cheerfully said and asked.

"Noo . . . Uh - he's sick. Okay bye." Rayla said flatly and turned around to leave.

"Wait!" Opeli stopped her. "You can still join the meeting if you would like to, Lady Rayla." Rayla froze. She hadn't been called that silly title since before she had left.

"No - no, I'm going to stay with Callum," Rayla responded after silence. Her back was still turned to the Council.

"Okay, tell him I hope he feels better! And that he should go to the Castle's healer and get rest! King's orders!!" Ezran scolded playfully.

"Okay, I will," Rayla turned to smile at him. She then walked back out of the room.

Once she made her way back to Callum's room, she knocked first, then opened the door.

"Callum? I'm back," she said, slowly entering the large room.

Callum had already fallen asleep on the couch. Rayla's gaze softened as she looked at him.

She silently walked over to him. He was in a sitting position, propped up on the side of the couch and on the wall behind him.

Rayla debated waking him. He 𝘥𝘪𝘥 need the rest, but he would not be comfortable sleeping like that.

She decided that she 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 wake him, since sleeping like 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 wouldn't get him the good rest he needed.

Rayla softly shook his shoulder, trying to wake him up as gentle as she could.

Callum's eyes quickly blinked open. For the second time that day, he smiled at her in a tired haze. He then stretched out some, since he was already becoming sore.

"Come on, let's get you to bed Callum," Rayla smiled at him.

Callum nodded his head, still a little sleepy, and followed Rayla as she stood up.

"Lead the way Sleepy Prince," Rayla joked, giving him a silly, but fitting, title. She did not know where his bedroom was in the High Mage quarters.

He made his way over to his bedroom, and Rayla followed. It was a short journey, just a door away. Rayla felt silly for not knowing.

Callum opened the door, motioning for Rayla to come in.

Once they were both in the room, Callum turned away, walking over to his bed. Rayla just stood there awkwardly.

She didn't know what to do, so she decided to look at the walls of his new-to-her bedroom.

He had multiple drawings plastered up on one wall. Most were of Ezran and Soren and Zym, but she soon spotted one of 𝘩𝘦𝘳.

Rayla didn't realize she had been staring at the drawing Callum did of her. It was the two of them actually, Callum was holding Rayla close with his wings, and they were both smiling like they were happy.

They 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 happy. Until she 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵.

Guilt bubbled up in Rayla's stomach.

𝘞𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘰 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘳𝘶𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘵, she thought to herself.

Rayla had not noticed that Callum saw her staring at the picture. He walked over to her, and she was not even aware of it. It was as if she were in a trance of some sort.

She also didn't notice the tear falling down her face. But Callum did.

Callum quickly looked from her to where she was staring, then back to her again. He walked in front of her, blocking her view of the picture.

"Hey," he said softly, breaking the trance she was in.

She blinked, then stared at him for a moment. She soon tore her eyes away and to the ground, worried to face who she hurt, and what she broke.

"I - I am 𝘴𝘰 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺, Callum. Words cannot express how truly 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺 I am," She said after a moment, her voice breaking.

Callum looked at her sadly. He knew exactly what she was talking about.

He placed a hand on her shoulder. She looked up at him, shocked and confused.

Rayla thought he would hate her. But instead, he just looked 𝘴𝘢𝘥.

"I know," he simply said, "I know you're sorry."

Suddenly, Callum pulled Rayla close to hug her. Again, she was taken back by the third hug that day, but she hugged him back anyway.

Rayla just cried into his shoulder, while Callum let his own tears fall.

Rayla was the first to pull away. Her hands were balled up at her sides, and she kept her gaze away from Callum's. He kept his gaze on her, even though he pulled his hands away.

"Callum, you should - you should get some rest, okay?" She wiped her tears away with the edge of her sleeve.

She turned to leave the room, but Callum stopped her.

"Wait," he quietly said, placing a hand on her shoulder.

Slowly, she turned back to him, tears still in her eyes as she looked at him.

"Do you want to stay?" his voice was barely above a whisper when he spoke.

Rayla nodded her head. He pulled her in for another hug, but she stopped him with her hand on his chest.

"Callum, I'm so sorry," her voice cracked. She looked to the floor and away from his sad face.

"Please, not right now," he almost begged, "just - just stay . . . "

Rayla looked up at him. She lifted her hand from his chest and to his shoulder.

"Okay," Rayla spoke quietly, "okay, I'll stay." She offered him a small smile.

Callum smiled back. Rayla let him pull her close and hug her. She buried her face into his chest. He was now tall enough for her to do that, unlike two years ago.

When they pulled away from each other, Callum happily smiled at her. Rayla smiled back, in hopes to keep them both okay. She didn't want him to hate her. She didn't want him to tell her to leave. She wanted to be with him. She wanted them both to be okay.

"Do you - uh -" Callum cleared his throat, now looking away from her awkwardly. "Do you want to - uhhm." He slowly looked all around the room, keeping his gaze away from hers.

"Do I what?" Rayla questioned, raising an eyebrow and lightheartedly teasing him.

"Do you want to stay here with me?" He said quickly.

He wanted things to go back to normal between them, but he couldn't fix what she did. He could not fix what she broke, not by himself. They both had to work on that, 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳.

"What do you mean?" Rayla asked, trying to get a clear response out of him.

Callum sighed, and looked down to the ground, defeated.

He looked to the bed, and back to her, trying to get her to understand what he meant. He wanted her to stay with him. And that also meant cuddling.

"You want to cuddle, don't you?" Rayla teased, placing both her hands on her hips.

Callum rolled his eyes and scoffed.

"Yes." He grumbled, somehow sounding even more defeated.

"Okay," Rayla said cheerfully, unlike both of their moods just a minute ago.

Callum grinned at her as she walked over to the bed, plopping down and taking her shoes and bits of her armor off. Callum quickly followed, taking his own shoes off. Turns out, sleeping in bed with shoes on would not be comfortable.

They both sat at the head of his bed, backs against the headboard, smiling widely at each other.

Callum was the first to lay down, and Rayla followed suit. They laid there, facing each other, matching grins on both of their faces. They quickly went under the covers for warmth.

Callum held his hand up, offering it to her. Rayla took it. His smile only grew.

It was quiet for a bit until Rayla spoke up, her smile fading into a look of anxiousness.

"You . . . 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 hate me?" Rayla asked carefully, trying not to ruin the moment.

Callum's smile disappeared too. Instead, worry was plastered all over his face.

"Why would I hate you? 𝘏𝘰𝘸 could I hate you?" He questioned.

Rayla looked away from him, leaving his question unanswered. Callum squeezed her hand.

"𝘙𝘢𝘺𝘭𝘢. I don't hate you." He spoke sternly but softly.

Rayla kept her eyes away from his. Tears welled in her eyes, and her lip trembled. She tried her best not to cry in front of him. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 was the one who left. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 was the one who hurt 𝘩𝘪𝘮.

And yet, he still did not hate her.

In fact, he 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥 her.

Rayla sealed her eyes shut, trying to keep the tears in. It did not work.

Callum pulled her close to his chest, letting go of her hand so that he could wrap his arms around her.

When Callum kissed the top of her head in between her horns, she broke.

Her chest heaved with sobs that she could not contain any longer.

She had 𝘳𝘶𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 things, and yet, here they were, 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘰 each other desperately.

"𝘐'𝘮 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺, 𝘐'𝘮 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺, 𝘐'𝘮 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺," Rayla repeated over and over again into his chest, sobs shaking her whole body as they held onto each other.

Callum held her tight, one held gently grasping her waist, the other tangled in her hair.

Callum did not know what to tell her. It obviously was not okay, she had lied to him and left him and broken his heart, all on his birthday. None of this was okay. Tears trickled down his face too.

He still loved her though. Nothing could change that.

Callum kissed the top of her head again, right between her horns. He let his lips linger there for a moment, before pulling away to look her in the eyes.

Rayla clung to him, not letting him pull away.

"Rayla," he said as softly as he could, trying not to let his voice tremble.

Finally, she slowly looked up at him, tears still streaming heavily down her face.

"I could 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 hate you," and it was like saying "I love you" for the first time all over again.

"I'm sorry," Rayla repeated, scared that he somehow wouldn't believe it.

"I know - I know," he said softly, and pulled her back into his chest.

Callum lifted up the blanket to cover her shoulders when she started shaking. She wasn't even actually cold, 𝘩𝘦 was.

He wanted to tell her that he loves her. He wanted to hear her say the same thing to him. He wanted them to be okay.

So, Callum whispered into her hair. Rayla knew he said something, but she could not make out what it was that he said.

She pulled away slightly. "What'd you say?" Rayla asked, sniffling.

"𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶." He responded.

Rayla's eyes widened. She was still for a moment, processing what he just said to her.

Callum wiped away most of her tears with his thumb. Rayla's eyebrows slanted, and she looked like she was about to cry again.

Rayla pulled him close, burying her face into his neck. Callum held her close to him.

"I love you too, Callum," she said into his neck as she held him tight.

"I love you so much," Callum said, smiling once again.

Rayla pulled back to look him in his eyes when she told it to him again.

"Callum, I 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 -" she was cut off by his lips on hers. She kissed him back.

One of his hands was tangled in her hair again, the other holding her cheek tenderly.

Eventually, they had to pull away for air. They rested their foreheads together, caressing each other's faces.

"I love you," Callum repeated softly.

"I love you too," Rayla responded, smiling yet again.

They would be okay. Eventually.

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