He breathed a sigh in relief.

Thank the gods…

Who knew you could be so grateful for a hazy view of the world? But he’d take fuzzy over nothing any day.

He lay on his back with a weight draped over his chest. Glancing down, he smiled as he saw Zarya sound asleep there with her arms wrapped around him in a tight hug. Now that had to be the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. And it instantly set fire to his blood for many reasons.

Grateful to and for her, he brushed his fingers through her soft, mahogany hair.

She’d saved his life.

His head was still throbbing and much of what had happened was foggy, but one memory was crystal clear. The sound of her angry voice over the roar of the flames around him.

“Don’t you dare die on me, Darling Cruel! I swear I’ll follow you into hell to beat you if you do!”

He was a psycho bastard to have that mean so much to him. But it meant everything.

She really did love him.

And the truth was, he loved her, too. More than he could believe. More than he could stand at times.

For her, he would do anything.

So why did it have to hurt so much? Be so damned hard?

Because people let each other down. Always. No matter how much they love each other, someone always screws up.

And the more you love them, the deeper it stings…

It was a natural state of being. No one could ever live up to the expectations of someone else. Sooner or later, everyone failed and he was too tired of being disappointed to keep up the pretense that he wasn’t.

She didn’t disappoint you in this.

No, but it still didn’t erase the past when she had, and in a much bigger way.

Why couldn’t you have opened the door then, Z?

As bad as the fire had been, it was nothing compared to the months of hell her people had put him through.

Her actions today didn’t ease that part of him. You’re not perfect yourself, you know?

True. He’d done his own share of hurt where she was concerned. And she’d forgiven him for it, so why couldn’t he do the same for her?

Because I’m a monster.

Physically and mentally.

But worse than that, he was an ass…

Zarya came awake to someone stroking her hair. Happiness shot through her as she realized what it meant. Lifting her head, she stared into those deep blue eyes that belonged to the most important person in her world. Never had she seen anything better. “How do you feel?”

“Did one of you drop me on my head?”

She laughed. “We only thought about it. Is your sight better?”

Nodding, he turned his head to look at the clock. “How long was I out?”

She cringed, not wanting to tell him. But he had a right to know and it wasn’t like he wouldn’t find out eventually. “Well… let me put it to you this way. You should be having surgery right now.”