Work Text:
Luísa woke up suddenly in the middle of the night, not sure why. She tried to fall asleep again but some bad feeling didn't let her. She shifted in bed to be closer to Francisco to calm herself, but then realized that something was not right. She reached out her hand trying to feel where Francisco was, and realized why she had that bad feeling. Francisco wasn't here.
She felt like she wouldn't be able to go back to sleep without him, so she decided to go looking for him. She got up and left their bedroom. She stopped at the corridor, keeping a lookout for anything unusual, when she noticed a dim light coming from the living room.
“A burglar.” she thought. She grabbed a flower vase and held it as a weapon, as she slowly approached the room.
Luísa carefully peeked out from behind the door frame. She scanned the room, still holding the vase, ready to use it at a moment's notice. The light was coming from the fireplace, where someone had lit a small fire. Luisa furrowed her brows. What kind of a burglar lights a fire instead of just using a lamp?
A figure huddled in front of the fireplace, but the fire cast shadows so dense that at first she couldn't recognize them. When she finally succeeded, she let out a gasp in shock.
"Francisco…?"
She immediately went to him and embraced him. Francisco shivered under her touch but other than that, he remained still. He was hugging his knees to his chest and rested his head on them as he watched the flames.
Luísa started to worry. “How long had he been sitting here? Why is he sitting here right now?” He seemed very distressed. Luisa started to slowly stroke his hair, hoping to offer him at least a little comfort.
They sat there like that for quite a while, although it was hard to tell for how long because of the darkness. After long last Francisco moved. He shivered and blinked, then he looked away from the fire. He closed his eyes and rested his head on her arm.
For even longer than before they sat there, snuggled into each other, Francisco gradually calming down. After a while he returned the hug. That's when Luísa decided to ask the question that had been tormenting her since she first saw him here.
"Francisco, mí amor, what happened?"
Francisco stiffened again and Luísa could feel his breathing becoming faster. He hugged her even tighter, hiding his face in her hair, but remained quiet.
Luisa didn't push. She continued to stroke his hair, hoping to calm him down again. The fire was still burning through the soft and quiet night. Finally he spoke or rather whispered in a sorrowful voice.
"It was... s-so cold"
Luisa didn't respond. She didn't know what to say. She never knew what to say when this happened.
She whispered, just as quietly as he had.
"I can- I will always keep you warm."