Despite knowing she'd been the one to suggest it, hearing in her own words that she did want him to stay had something of a curious effect on him. Like a wound he hadn't previously known was even there and now it was suddenly, miraculously healed. Kyle was more aware of himself then he'd ever been in her presence before, but two words from her and it was as if the storm constantly raging inside him for a moment grew quiet.
I do. Such simple words to hold so much power over him. Kyle didn't know when his willingness to give her more ground had stopped being methodical and became second nature. The shift occurred seemingly without his knowledge, a realization that would have only provoked him like a caged animal before.
Trust was as strange to him as the notion of friendship, but if there was something he felt he could safely trust, it was the purity of her intention. Her intentions, and the crystal clear vision of her at his side now permanently seared into his brain. Like Kylo in the throne room, Kyle no longer felt torn between the murky waters of their growing bond and his goals. He was sure now that they would come to align, just as they were meant to, and this time, she would see that he was right.
Curiously and despite his renewed conviction, that wasn't what motivated him now to stay. Reasserting his dominance in an attempt to guide her towards the path he knew was right and aggressively follow the length of their bond to completion was the farthest thing from his mind as she moved across her bed. His bed? Kyle watched her make room to one side of her, enough room for another person, swallowing as his eyes followed her movements with an odd sense of anticipation that clung to his chest in an unbearably relentless grip. He was nervous.
How odd, Kyle thought to himself as he watched her. In all of his years with the Resistance, all of the things he'd already faced, he'd never felt this. No longer torn between warring sides, but at once unsure of himself, perplexed by the strange thud in the pit of his stomach as she moved over and offered her hand to him. She did it with such ease that Kyle assumed something like this must come naturally to her, and his own lack of experience painfully obvious. He'd never shared a bed with anyone, much less slept next to them.
He wasn't planning on sleeping, but when she offered her hand to him again, he didn't even think to refuse it. Kyle slowly, carefully moved across the mattress, mindful of the space on his side of their connection that seemed somehow less real to him with her sharing it. Now that he knew what it felt like to make physical contact inside of it, the still living barrier between them felt more vulnerable. Like if they tried hard enough, they could break it down entirely and she would actually be here with him instead of safely behind a veil.
Surprisingly, Kyle found that he didn't hate the idea.
Kyle stretched himself out on the bed across from her, the position of his body unintentionally mimicking her to line up perfectly with hers. His movements were cautious, as if not wanting to jostle her as he settled down next to her, his inability to navigate his larger body in the limited space without it being a little awkward almost comical. She was so small in comparison, delicate despite all the power she held in ways he could never be given his height and broader frame alone.
His head falling to his own pillow, Kyle reached out with his hand to cover her open one, fingers lacing between hers firmly before letting their joined hands rest comfortably on the mattress between them. "I will." He said it with the same soft conviction as her 'I do', his eyes searching her features as she visibly fought sleep and lost the battle right in front of him. The most surprising thing for Kyle was realizing a moment later that despite his resolve not to fall asleep while they were still connected, he suddenly felt a wave of tension leave his body, overcome with the genuine desire to sleep for the first time in... a long time. His hand never left hers.