Only Yours in my Dreams // Alma Peregrine x Reader

Chapter Twenty- Let Me Finish

"And then, I- I blacked out again. When I woke up, I was bandaged and in bed back at the house." You sniffled and the woman in front of you looked at you with despair. "He took my wings, Alma. They're gone. Forever. I cannot get the most important part of me back."

She stayed silent for a moment, stewing on all that you had just told her. She stood and came to kneel in front of you, eye level with your face.

"What happened to you is terribly tragic. I cannot put into words how furious I am with that man, how much I would like to wring his neck with my bare hands for what he did to you. You are mine. But your wings were not the most important part of you, sweetheart. You have everything else. Every bit of you is so important." She held your hand while making eye contact with your golden eyes, shining with the tears you refused to let fall.

"My wings were every part of me. I don't know who I am anymore without them."

"Then I'll help you find yourself." She traced your cheekbone gently with her thumb and stood, making her way over to the other side of the bed. "Do you mind if I lay with you? Would you be uncomfortable with that?"

"Go ahead." You turned your face to her direction and watched her climb into bed, scooting over closer to you and holding out her arms. You gave her a questioning look and she nodded, giving you a small smile. She almost looked... Nervous?

"If you want to." She said, and you nodded after a moment. You were touch-starved, you couldn't deny that fact, and you weren't going to turn down her offer.

You pushed yourself over in her direction, wincing in pain at your back. She helped you settle into position, so you were half on top of her with your head just below her chin and arms around her waist. She wrapped her arms around you, careful not to even brush against your wounds, then pressed her cheek against the top of your head.

"I'm so sorry." She whispered against your hair. "For everything." You felt her sharp nails tracing little shapes absently across your lower back as your heart fell into rhythm with hers. Your breathing steadily matched hers as you nuzzled your face into her chest.

"You don't have to apologize. But this is nice." You sighed contentedly. You weren't in pain. You weren't even allowing yourself to think about your wings. Nor the way she didn't reciprocate and this was purely platonic. You just breathed in her scent, focused on the feeling of your bodies pressed firmly together. Your eyes closed and you tightened your grip on her ever so slightly. "Why?" You asked softly.

"Why what?"

"Why are you doing this?"

"You deserve it. Comfort, that is. And love." You pulled back to look at her, trying to figure out what she meant. She hesitated before speaking again. "I know how you feel about me, y/n."

You flushed brightly and your breathing picked up speed, panic rushing through your veins. You thought back over how weird she had been acting and paled again.

"I'm so sorry, Miss- I didn't intend for you to- I'm so so sorry. I'm sure it'll go away-" She cut you off by holding a finger against your lips, a playful shine somehow in her eyes. You tried to push yourself away from her but she held you close.

"You didn't let me finish, love." You sighed and dropped your gaze to stare at the bed.

"I suppose this is the part where you tell me you're straight and can never return the feelings, and to forget about it."

"Let me finish." She gave you a look, silencing you instantly. "Your death was a wake up call for me. It made me realize that living without you is not an option. I realized that the joy and brightness you bring into my life is incomprehensible, and incomparable. And that I- I have feelings for you too, y/n. And I have for a long time. I simply didn't know it."