Closer

He'd tried to be quiet, thinking that at three in the morning she'd be fast asleep. But by the time he'd walked into their small kitchen, she was already flying down the stairs, almost falling in her haste to get to him. She paused in the kitchen doorway, her eyes drinking him in, like she couldn't believe he was there. He half turned so that he could look at her, and he offered her a shaky smile, that sent her hurtling towards him.

There was a tremor in her hands as she pulled him closer, wrapping her arms around him and pulling him so close that she could hear his racing heartbeat. She clung to him for too long; an awkward amount of time passed as she breathed in deeply, forbidding herself to cry. She knew she should let go, but she couldn't do it. Couldn't stop clutching him, because she still couldn't quite believe that he was still alive. That he wasn't lying broken, twisted, gone.
He was holding her just as tightly, a hand smoothing down her hair. His head cradled in the crook of her neck, and she could feel the silent tears staining her thin t-shirt. They stayed like that, caught up in each other in the tiny kitchen for so long. Neither one of them speaking, neither one of them moving; just the sound of their breathing letting the other know how much they meant.