62 Falling (2/2)

”NO!! MATHE-”

Julian caught Matheio before he hit the ground, safely pulling him back up.

”HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND?!” Julain scolded, flicking Matheio on the forehead, ”I HAVE NO RAILINGS ON MY ARM SO BE CAREFUL!!”

Julian's hands trembled as they tightly gripped Matheio's tiny shoulders, ”THAT WAS REALLY DANGEROUS! YOU- you could have left me…” Julian stuttered, choking up slightly as the scene repeated in his mind.

The fear was so clear in the hazel gems in Matheio's eyes and he had almost given in to the fear too. Julian pulled Matheio close, holding him tightly in his arms. ”Never,” He muttered weakly as he rested his head on Matheio's shoulders, ”NEVER do that again.”

Matheio trembled. The feeling of lightness and having nothing above and below except the approaching doom of meeting the hard floor with his skull was terrifying, paralyzing even. It was not something he would like to remember but wouldn't be something he would forget. He had only felt this emotion twice in his short time alive, but he knew it wasn't something he wanted to feel again.

”Hmm,” he muttered in reply, wrapping his hands around Julian.

Julian slowly patted Matheio on his back to soothe him. ”Thank god you're ok… that's all that matters,” he sighed, ”that and you NEVER doing that again.”

Matheio didn't a mutter a reply back as he simply laid in Julian's arms, but it was enough of an answer that Julian needed.

”Honestly… you really keep me on my toes…” Julian chuckled with a sigh, nuzzling his head against Matheio's, ”that was probably one of the scariest moments in my life, if not the most. Right, Gradis?”

Julian turned to Gradis, ”Gradis?”

Gradis stared back at Julian, their eyes meeting but not really seeing each other. She was still stuck in the moment, shivers running up her spine and terror suffocating her slightly. She wasn't ok with this. She wasn't ok with this distance. She needed to be there and wasn't ok with just watching anymore. The burden of knowing something might happen to someone and having the chance to prevent it but not being able to just because of distance was horrifying and she hated the thought of it.

But that was overstepping her boundaries. There were boundaries she made for herself, for reasons that she had to adhere to and coming any closer to them would be overstepping. Again. But once again… she couldn't help herself.

”Yea… that was horrifying Matte,” Gradis sighed, ”I was really scared… I thought..”

Gradis could see the slight trembling coming from Matheio's body through Julian's phone. She wanted to be there to… to hug him too, to reassure him with Julian and tell him everything was ok while having him in her embrace. Her hand twitched and her heart throbbed. 'This hurts,' she whispered in her mind.

”But.. Don't be scared. It's over now,” Gradis smiled, ”I'm here with Julian and you're here with us and that's what matters. I'm glad you're safe.”

This was getting dangerous and real quickly as she danced along the line of her boundary but maybe it was ok for her to cross over this time. It felt right.