Chapter 137 I Love You - Callista's POV

Chapter 137 I Love You - Callista's POV
He turned his head slightly to look at me, his eyes dark in the dim room. For a second, neither of us spoke. I could feel the weight of everything hanging there between us. There was so much fear mixed with relief that it was too much for one conversation. Well, too much for one lifetime, honestly.

Then his fingers tightened around mine.

“I don’t know how to do this anymore,” he confessed quietly. “The fighting is easy. It’s bred into me. But being close to you when I know that if he takes over, it might cost me you, is unbearable.”

My chest ached at the honesty in his voice.

“We’re going to survive this, Riven. You just have to believe that our love will be stronger than your curse,” I whispered. “There has to be hope.”

“That’s what worries me.”

I frowned slightly. “Why?”

“Because I used to think I was good for you,” he said solemnly. “You made me want to be better and I…feel like I trapped you in this with me.”

The words hit harder than he probably intended.

“You are good for me,” I corrected.

“The demon literally tried to kill you.”

“No, he didn’t,” I laughed. “He has scared me a couple of times, but he’s never tried to kill me outright.”

“If you saw my nightmares,” he breathed. 

“Look at me, Riven,” I said, my voice sharpening.

Slowly, he did.

“You are not the curse,” I said firmly. “You are not the monster living inside your head. You’re the person who spent a year trying to protect me from it, even when it tore you apart to leave.”

His expression shifted then, something painful flickering across it. “I hated every second without you.”

“I know.”

“No,” he said quietly. “I don’t think you do.” The room fell silent again. His gaze drifted toward the ceiling, but his hand never left mine. “There were nights I almost came back. I’d get halfway here before I forced myself to turn around.”

Emotion tightened painfully in my throat.

“You should’ve come back,” I whispered.

“I know that now and if I could go back in time, I would have come here to get you.”

The late afternoon light had dimmed into something softer, shadows stretching across the walls. I could hear rain beginning outside, faint at first against the windows.

Riven finally shifted, turning slightly toward me instead of lying flat on his back. The movement brought us closer under the blankets.

“I missed you so much,” he admitted.

“What did you miss most? Because I missed everything.”

“You beside me.” His voice lowered. “It feels right when you’re here.”

My eyes burned a little at that. Without thinking too hard about it, I moved closer until my forehead rested lightly against his shoulder.

And for the first time in a very long time, he relaxed completely.

For a while, neither of us moved.

The rain steadily grew heavier outside, tapping softly against the windows and roof. Combined with the warmth under the blankets and the steady rise and fall of Riven’s breathing, it made the room feel isolated from the rest of the world, as if nothing beyond these walls could touch us for a little while.

I listened to his heartbeat. It was slower now and calmer.

My fingers absently traced over the back of his hand while I lay against him. I could feel the scars there beneath my fingertips, some old and some newer. I glanced down, trying to see them. They must have been from training.

“You’re thinking too hard again,” he murmured suddenly.

I smiled faintly against his shoulder. “You can tell?”

“You seem to rub your fingers across my thumb if you are.”

I blinked, lifting my head slightly to look at him. “I do not.”

“You do,” he insisted quietly, and there was the smallest hint of amusement in his voice now. “You’ve always done it what time we’ve been around each other.”

“Well,” I muttered, settling back down. “Maybe you just make me worry.”

A soft breath of laughter left him then, quieter than before but real enough that my chest tightened painfully around it. Fates, I missed that sound.

“I missed hearing you laugh,” I admitted before I could stop myself.

The words made him go still for a second. Then his arm shifted carefully around me, hesitant at first, like he was waiting to see if I would pull away. When I didn’t, he relaxed and drew me a little closer against him.

My heart nearly stopped.

“There was a time,” he said quietly, “where I thought I forgot what it felt like to hold you.”

“You didn’t.”

“No,” he whispered. “I didn’t.”

Silence settled again, softer this time. This was comfortable and safe.

I tilted my head enough to look up at him, studying the tired lines in his face. He looked more worn than he should have for someone his age. The past year had carved itself into him in ways I didn’t think would ever fully disappear.

“You need sleep,” I whispered.

“So do you.”

“I’m serious.”

“So am I.”

I rolled my eyes slightly, earning another faint laugh from him. Then his expression softened again as he looked down at me.

“I love you, Callista.”

The simplicity of it hurt more than grand declarations ever could.

“I love you too.”

His fingers brushed lightly through my hair before his eyes finally closed for the first time since he’d walked back into my life.

And still holding onto me, Riven finally fell asleep.

I stayed awake a little longer, listening to the rain and the quiet sound of his breathing beside me. It struck me then just how exhausted he truly was. Riven never slept deeply. Even before the curse, he had always been alert, always aware of every sound around him. But now, with his arm around me and his face softened by sleep, he looked peaceful for the first time in over a year.

Carefully, I shifted just enough to press a kiss against his shoulder. He stirred faintly but didn’t wake.

“Welcome home,” I whispered into the dark.

Outside, thunder rolled softly across the mountains as the rain continued to fall.