Chapter 71: Chapter 71

That might actually kill him if that were the case.

  "I'll protect you, I won't let him get to you. If you're scared I understand, but don't feel like you have to just give up. Isla-"

She silenced him with a finger on his mouth before cupping his cheeks and smiling up at him sweetly.

  Her eyes were gentle and sweet.

"Kelly, breathe," she told him, stroking his cheeks with her thumbs.

  "It's okay."

He did not breathe. 

He gasped and sputtered as he tried to reign in his emotions. 

He was panicking, desperate, and he had no idea how to deal with those feelings.

  He'd never had to before.

  Isla did things to him, and he was still trying to come to grips with it.

"It's not okay! Isla, you can't sacrifice yourself for us," he insisted.

  "And you're not leaving me. You just told me you had no intention of leaving me ever again. Were you lying?"