Elion did not sleep that night.
The girl lay on his bed, wrapped in his only blanket, while he sat on the floor with his back against the wall. He watched her chest rise and fall, afraid that if he closed his eyes, she would vanish.
Strangers did not fall from the sky into his life.
Good things did not happen to him.
Every soft breath she took felt borrowed.
At dawn, her eyes opened.
She looked around the small room, confusion flooding her face. When her gaze found Elion, fear flashed across her expression. She tried to sit up and winced in pain.
"Please," she whispered. "Do not send me away."
The words struck him harder than he expected.
"I would not," he said quietly. His voice sounded unfamiliar, as if it belonged to someone braver.
She studied him, as if searching for danger. "I do not remember who I am."
Something inside him tightened.
Not knowing who you are meant living without roots. Without protection. Without belonging.
"I can help you," Elion said, though he did not know how.
Her eyes filled with tears. "Everyone leaves."
So did everyone in his life.
He swallowed. "I am still here."
For days, they existed in careful silence.
She learned his name. He never asked for hers. Part of him feared that giving her a name would make her real enough to lose.
At night, Elion lay awake listening to her quiet breathing from the other side of the room. The warmth he felt when she was near frightened him more than loneliness ever had.
Because loneliness was familiar.
Love was not.
One evening, as the sun bled into the horizon, she stood by the window, staring outside.
"I think I am dangerous," she said suddenly.
Elion's heart sank. "Why would you think that"
"When I woke up in the forest, I felt like something had been torn away from me," she whispered. "Like I destroyed something important."
Her hands shook. "What if I ruin your life"
He did not answer immediately.
Because his life had already been empty.
"You already changed it," he said softly.
She turned to him, eyes shining with pain. "Then why do you look like you are waiting for me to leave"
The truth burned his throat.
Because love had never stayed.
Because happiness always felt temporary.
Because when love visits someone like him, it never comes without a price.
"I am not afraid of you," he said.
That was a lie.
He was afraid of how much he cared.
And deep down, Elion knew something else.
Love had not come to save him.
It had come to test how much he could lose.
---
If you want it even more painful, next we can:
Introduce rejection and emotional distance
Make her push him away to protect him
Bring betrayal or forced separation
Let Elion choose love knowing it will destroy him