AND you did it again, life interrupted is now my favorite AU thank you so much for writing more of it!! Gil is so sweet and Druig just wants whats best for his big sister 🥹 would love love love to see something where Thena is having a Bad Day and Gil is just being extra kind and gentle and soft w her, maybe even it gets to the point where Thena explains what happened to her and why she’s lost her way a bit. Sorry I cannot stop thinking about this AU but as usual anything you write will make me lose my mind with its perfection!!!
Thena sniffed, sitting at Gil's kitchen as he poured her a glass of water. Her hands still had a slight shake to them, even though it had taken them fifteen minutes to walk to his place.
Gil still didn't know exactly what had happened. Just that one minute she was fine and the next she was trembling with her arms wrapped around herself. He had thrown his coat around her shoulders and gotten her home without further incident. He hadn't asked about it yet, either.
From the moment they walked in, all he'd done was whisper sweet nothings and reassurances and been nice and gentle with her. All he'd done was be perfect.
"Hey," Gil whispered as she took a sip without the glass shaking too badly. He leaned his head down to get a look at her, eyes searching for anything wrong and what he might be able to do about it. "Better?"
Thena gulped, nodding. How did she ever find such a perfect soul as Gilgamesh?
"I'm gonna name off a few things," Gil said softly, hovering close but not too close. "You tell me what sounds good, okay?"
Thena nodded again. Maybe she wanted to tell him he didn't have to coddle her. Maybe she wanted to pretend everything was fine. Maybe she wanted to lie down on his floor and sob until Druig came to pick her up.
"Something to eat?" God, no, she couldn't bear the thought of food (not even Gil's). "Nap?...couch?"
Gil smiled as she nodded. He tilted his brows up at her, "want me to carry you?"
Thena's eyes watered, and it seemed as good as a 'yes' in Gil's eyes, because he didn't hesitate to scoop her up bridal style and carry her to his living room. She pressed her tears into his shirt. "I'm sorry."
"You have nothing to be sorry for," he said as sure as anything. He sat himself down, letting her curl up against him on his lap. He held her gently, but firmly.
"I didn't want..." Thena trailed off. There were a lot of things she didn't want, and having a panic attack in the middle of their date was definitely pretty high on that list.
"It's okay, Thena," Gil whispered, running his hand over her hair and holding her around the waist. "All that matters to me is that you're feeling better."
Thena sighed, burying her face against his shoulder again. He was perfect--too perfect. "Too good for me."
"No," he was quick to deny. He twisted her hair over her shoulder so he could bury his nose against the side of her neck. "You deserve to be taken care of, Thena."
She wished she felt that way.
"You are so important to me," Gil whispered against her cheek, leaving light kisses there. "I asked you out for the same reason I started saving lunch for you."
Thena pulled away now just to look at him curiously.
He smiled that same smile that had first stolen her heart back in the psych ward. It was warm, and gentle, and even when she'd been medicated to heaven and back, she'd been able to feel her heart beating faster at the sight of it. It was all the medicine she needed.
"I did it to see that smile," he said gently, running his thumb along her jaw line, as if to pull her lips into a smile like smoothing a crease out of a fitted sheet. Her smile did appear, and his doubled in size. "There it is!"
Thena let out a small, shaky, watery sounding laugh. But Gil pulled her closer, pressing a kiss to her forehead to express how pleased he was by it, no matter how fragile it was. She sighed, letting his warmth and the smell of his aftershave swim around in her head.
Gil let her take her time, happy to hold her--to have her safe in his arms. He nuzzled her gently, tapped his fingers against her leg, rubbed her back and petted her hair.
Thena pressed her forehead under his chin. "Druig asked me to go with him to tell our father and step-mother that he wanted--wants to propose."
Gil waited for her to go on at her own pace.
Thena resettled herself in his arms. He was so comfy. "I told him he shouldn't try to involve them, but I imagine he still has some slight desire to feel like a family."
"I agreed to go with him, but our father didn't take the news particularly well. He's always been hard on Druig, and this time his temper was just...I had never seen them like that."
Gil ran his fingers through her hair as her breath hitched.
"They were so angry, and they started shouting," she continued, voice pulled thinner until it was a whisper. "Ajak told them to stop, but it just made it worse. Druig isn't big enough to fight him."
Her sentences were becoming fractured again--something she hadn't been able to completely break herself of after being in the psych ward those three months.
"I was scared," she whimpered, and Gil responded by holding her tighter. "I thought they were going to kill each other."
"You got in between them?"
She nodded, and Gil's hand gripped her shoulder. It was just short of too tight, but she could imagine it wasn't pleasant to imagine for him. "I pulled our father off of Druig, clawing at him. He turned around and..."
Gil sucked in a breath through his nose and held it, but he said nothing. She had more to say, and he wasn't about to interrupt her.
"Ajak ended up calling the police," Thena regained some strength in her voice, deep, deep in the memory of the fateful night. "It was agreed that no charges would be pressed if Druig took some time off work, Father performed some community service, and I-"
"Got checked into the hospital?" Gil asked, sounding more baffled than when he'd guessed she had gotten involved in their fight. "Why were you the only one with that punishment?"
Thena shrugged. "I'm sure they were more likely to believe in my hysteria than their anger."
Gil scoffed.
"I suppose in fairness to them," Thena shrugged, "they did arrive to me telling our father I would kill him."
"Well," Gil shrugged as well to match her lighter tone, "it sounds like he deserved it."
Thena let out another - stronger - laugh. How as he so perfect.? She emerged from the memory to look at him properly. He brushed some hair back from her face and let the hand drift over her cheek. She leaned into his touch achingly. "I'm afraid it's not very pleasant. But that's how I ended up meeting you."
"Well, I hate to say anything good came of that," Gil mumbled, as if sharing a secret with her. "But...I'm still glad you ended up in my lunch line."
She laughed again, smiling through the last of her unshed tears.
"I guess that's pretty selfish of me," he whispered, still looking at her with those eyes and that smile--the only things that would bring her comfort when she was in that hellhole.
"It's okay," she whispered back, "you can be selfish."
Gil closed his eyes as she leaned forward to kiss his cheek.
"That wasn't the first time they'd ended up like that, just the worst of them," Thena continued, somewhat easier now. "I've always been spooked by shouting and loud noises ever since my father's first truly bad display of temper."
Gil just nodded, pulling her head against his again. There had been a scuffle in the crowd outside the cinema--that was what had triggered her. "I'm sorry."
Thena shook her head, pursing her lips. "Every time, I think I can move past it-"
"You don't have to," he gripped her shoulder. "I know you might not like it, but it's a part of you. And we don't have to like it all the time to accept it--that it comes with you as a package deal."
Thena wilted against him. "Are you sure you're not a therapist from the psych ward disguised as a cook?"
Gil laughed, his chest vibrating against her shoulder in a very comforting way. "Guess I've heard enough group sessions in the cafeteria to have picked up some things."
Thena stretched out in his embrace like a cat in front of a fire. She was positively worn out from all the events of the day. "You're perfect."
"No one's perfect," he corrected softly, "but I guess...I really want you to feel like you can be yourself around me."
Gil changed his position as well, lying on his side with her still curled up against him. He budged the throw pillow more under her head than his. "I know we didn't meet in a...traditional way."
What an understatement.
"But," he threaded their fingers together, his breath hitting her face as he whispered, "I want this to work, Thena. I want to be here to make you smile every single day--just once, if you don't want to too much."
Thena laughed, her forehead bumping against his in their proximity.
Gil inhaled, looking like her laughter was something that could be injected into his veins for energy. "Maybe a laugh once a day--it is the best medicine."
Thena, lying on her side, staring at this wonderful, perfect man, shook her head. He blinked at her denial, but she smiled so wide her cheeks hurt, "you."
Gil's eyes slid closed as she leaned forward, touching her lips to his ever so gently. He returned the kiss, soft and sweet as it was--nothing demanding or intense. Just a little exchange of affection. His eyes fluttered open and he had this dopey smile on his face.
Thena let her eyes drift down between them to their connected hands. She flexed them a little, to test if it was really real. But his fingers slid down to clasp around her hand more firmly.
Gil pressed a kiss to her forehead, "tired now?"
Thena nodded, shimmying to properly nestle herself into him.
Gil wrapped an arm around her, letting his hand spread over her back as if that alone could protect her from today and every one to come. "I'll be right here."
Thena smiled against his shirt, drinking in the scent of his detergent and the warmth of his arm around her. "Perfect."
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