<div align="center"><strong>-=Vincent Kincaid – Dr. Kincaid, (honorary) PhD in Love – Vincent’s Quarters=-</strong></div><br/>Vincent’s eyes continued to search Mae’s as the silence stretched on for what felt like an eternity. He looked into her like a doctor would when examining a patient, though without bothering to maintain any semblance of clinical detachment. After all, he was no doctor and it wasn’t the physical wounds he was diagnosing. Any attempt to hide his love for her would be entirely counterproductive. A very faint smile tugged at the corners of his lips as he found what he was looking for. Beneath the fear and insecurities, he could still make out the glint of defiance and will that was Mae. The bad man may have hurt her, but she was not broken. It was that realization that gave him hope and made him see that Mae would still be Mae through and through once she has had time to recover.<br/><br/>Mae’s request, as feeble as she may have spoken it, still caused Vincent’s warm smile to widen.<strong>”Of course my love.”</strong>The copilot spared a moment to kick off his shoes before crawling into bed with his girlfriend, crawling his way into her blanket so he could wrap his arms around her and bathe her in his presence. Perhaps he could have spared a few extra moments to undress, but he didn’t want to make her wait more than she already has. Plus, if he was going to end up naked it would happen regardless of whether he was in the bed or not.<br/><br/>He positioned himself at her front, his head higher up on the pillow than hers. Their legs intertwined beneath the blanket as they wrapped their arms around one another. One of Vince’s hands slid up the smooth skin of Mae’s back to rest at the back of her head, urging her to rest it on his chest where he could nuzzle and kiss her scalp at leisure.<strong>”Though you should know by now that I’ll never leave you, Mae.”</strong>His voice was soft and reassuring, allowing the deep rumble of his voice in his chest to help soothe the young woman in his arms.<strong>”I will always be here for you because I love you and that will never change.”</strong>