Worthy

Chapter Nine

We had breakfast out on the balcony once it arrived. The sun was warm and I enjoyed being out in it. It was blissfully normal starting my day with him like we used to. When I went to brush my teeth I realized Thor didn't have anything here for him. I loaned him my toothbrush and hair brush but promised to get him his own things from the galleria downstairs.

Thor stopped to put on his sweater and fingerless gloves as we were heading out.

"We're only headed downstairs." I reminded him.

"I know." He replied wrapping the sweater tightly around himself.

I wanted to say something but the anxious expression on his face kept me silent. It was like putting on armor before a battle, he needed the extra protection between him and the outside world. My heart broke as I realized this and I took his hand in mine as we left the suite hoping the contact would give him some small comfort.

Thor seemed fine as we headed down and while he tensed a bit as people joined the elevator every few floors he wasn't overly agitated. "I can do this." He assured me, squeezing my hand.

Finally we reached the lobby, the wide metal doors opened, and everyone exited the elevator. I noticed he'd dropped my hand but thought he was right behind me. I was several steps away when I realized he wasn't. I spun around to see him still in the elevator, frozen in place. I raced back just before the doors closed. The elevator started moving heading back up to our floor.

"You okay?" I asked him patiently.

"Of course! I was just thinking we might have left the coffee machine on back in the room. I should run back and turn it off." He said with fake cheerfulness.

"Uh huh. I turned it off after we washed dishes so it's fine. We can go now."

His face set in concentration as he tried to think of another excuse.

"Let's do this," I offered, "We go get you an outfit or two and see how you feel. If you're okay we can go get you toiletries. And then if you're still doing okay we can stop for Starbucks before heading back upstairs. If at any point it's too much we'll drop everything and leave. You say the word and we're outta there. Okay?"

"You deserve so much more than me." He voice sounded so defeated.

"Absolutely not." I shook my head and held on to both his hands tightly not letting him avoid my eyes, "Thor, you are amazing. I could shout your praises from the rooftop for a week without stopping. You are brave, strong, kind, loving, protective, funny, sweet, handsome, I could go on and on. You are literally a god. I know you are having trouble seeing all that right now but we're going to work on that. This is just a rough patch, not the rest of your life. You fought back and overcame it once and you'll do it again. And I'll be right here the whole time."

"How can you-" he tried to interrupt.

"Because I love you. Forever."

A genuine smile crossed his face, "I love you forever as well."

"Ready to go now?"

"I will try. But don't let go."

I nodded and hit the button to return us to the lobby. We made a straight path to the shop I'd found the night before. Thor was looking around nervously but he didn't let go of my hand.

Shopping for him was easier than I expected. He liked soft linens for pants and shirts as well as thin cotton T-shirts. With summer being only a month away most of what he wanted was easy to find. He was disappointed there were no sweatpants and hoodies but he made do with what they had. Thor gravitated to neutral colors which didn't surprise me and he ended up with half a dozen pants, numerous shirts, two summer weight sweaters, and lots of soft, silken boxer briefs. The only thing he wouldn't be talked into was shoes, insisting he was happy with his sandals. He carried the four huge shopping bags with ease and still managed to hold my hand.

"Ready for the next stop?" I asked him.

"I think so" he said sincerely.

"Okay, the shop is back the way we came."