Your older boyfriend needs some affection. (RE9)

Leon lays beside you on the couch, absentmindedly running his fingers through your hair as the television flickered in the background. The familiar motion was automatic, comforting, but his mind was elsewhere.

For over a year, the same thoughts had haunted him. Every time he looked at you saw the warmth in your smile and the way your eyes lit up when he came home he felt the weight of them all over again.

You deserved more than a man like him.

You had pulled him from his darkest days, from depression and the bottle, and somehow loved him through it all. To keep you close felt selfish. To imagine losing you felt unbearable.

His fingers slowed slightly as he watched the screen without really seeing it, the quiet fear he carried settling heavily in his chest. Looking at you always filled him with gratitude but sometimes, just as much guilt.