At the touch of her hand against his cheek, he took in a sharp inhalation of breath. Slowly, he let the breath escape from his mouth. His heart continued to go<em>thud-thud-thud-thud-thud</em>in his chest.  He leaned forward, towards her, and went to wrap his arms around her, wanting nothing more than to hold her in his arms, to hug her close, and maybe not let go.  he had always been a cuddler, had always love to hug and snuggle, so it shouldn't be too much of a surprise that that is the first thing he seems to want to do.<br/><br/>"Come. Come inside with me, Erica. Please." He'd step back after saying this. "I need to know what happened." Running now, it seems, would not be a good option. If she were to run now, she would shatter his heart once again, and leave him broken all over; maybe even worse than before. His voice was rich with mixed, complex emotions. Happiness at seeing her alive; disbelief; the need to know; the smallest hint of anxiety, perhaps.<br/><br/>At one point in time, it'd be easy to say that these two would wind up having their happily ever after ending. That was then, though. Now? It really was up in the air as to how this complex story would end.