Page 31 of Snowed in: With the Alien Tentacle Monster

Logan stared at the space between them, at Valen's tentacles hovering just inches from his skin. There was something tempting about the offer, but also something terrifying. What might Valen see inhimif Logan held nothing back? Would hesee that Logan was only half a person now? That he'd jumped at all the warmth Valen had offered because he'd been too fucking lonely for too fucking long?

"What are you afraid of?" Valen asked.

"I'm not…" Logan trailed off. What was the point of lying when Valen could probably feel his fear through their bond anyway? "You'll see too much."

"I want us both to see everything," Valen said gently. "Complete honesty. No more barriers."

Logan wrapped his arms around himself. "Your parents are waiting."

"Let them wait."

Logan closed his eyes, conflicted. If he let Valen in… "What if… What if what you see in my head makes you want to leave even more?"

"That won't happen."

"You don't know that." Logan's voice trembled. "You don't know what's in my head. How broken I am. How much I—" He cut himself off, but the words hung in the air between them anyway.How much I need you.

One of Valen's tentacles gently brushed his cheek. "Then show me. Show me everything you're so afraid of me seeing."

Slowly, Logan opened his eyes, meeting Valen's topaz gaze.

"I know you're scared," Valen said. "I can feel it. But you're pushing me away because you think I'll leave, while I'm trying to show you why I won't."

"Your parents?—"

"Are not the ones bonded to you." Valen moved closer. "Let me show you what that really means. Not just what you think you know about our bond, but everything. Please."

Logan felt his resistance crumbling. He wanted so badly for Valen to prove him wrong.

"Okay." The word came out barely a whisper. Logan took a shuddering breath. "Okay."

Valen's tentacle moved up higher to touch his temple. "Are you sure?"

Logan almost laughed at that. No, he wasn't sure at all. But he was tired of being afraid. Tired of pushing away the one thing that had made him feel whole again. "Just... do it before I change my mind."

"Close your eyes," Valen murmured.

Logan let his eyes fall shut, feeling the gentle pressure of Valen's tentacle against his temple. For a moment, nothing happened. Then something warm spread through his mind, like sunlight breaking through clouds.

The sensation was nothing like their previous mental touches. Those had been surface-level, mere ripples compared to this tidal wave. Logan gasped as Valen's consciousness flowed into his mind, bringing with it a kaleidoscope of emotions and memories.

He saw himself through Valen's eyes that first night, not just a convenient accident, but a bright spot of wonder in the cold darkness after the crash. Felt Valen's wonder at their first real conversation, his growing fascination with Logan's quiet strength. The heat inducers might have created the initial attraction, but they hadn't created the way Valen ached every time Logan pulled away, hadn't manufactured the joy he felt at each small smile Logan gave him.

But more than that, he felt Valen's fear—fear of failing his people, yes, but overwhelmed by a deeper terror of losing Logan. Of watching him suffer through withdrawal. Of returning to that cold, empty space that existed before their bond.

This is what I feel,Valen's thoughts whispered through him.This is what's real.

Logan trembled under the weight of it all, his own mental walls crumbling. Everything he'd been holding back came rushing out. The crushing loneliness after Jeff's death, the way Valen's presence had started filling those empty spaces, and the paralyzing fear that he'd be left alone again.

I don't know how to let you go, Logan's thoughts confessed before he could stop them.I don't want to.

Valen's response came not in words but in a surge of fierce protectiveness, a determination that burned like starfire. Images flashed between them: Valen standing up to his parents, Logan by his side; the two of them finding a way forward together, whether on Earth or among the stars.

You won't have to be alone, Valen promised.I choose you. I will always choose you.

Logan's knees buckled under the weight of Valen's certainty, but the alien's tentacles held him steady. Physical touch grounded him as their minds remained entwined, sharing every fear, every hope, every truth they'd been too afraid to voice.

But your people…Logan's doubt crept in.

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