A/N: Based on the calming prompt: "You'll be all right, nobody can hurt you now."

Originally posted on tumblr and can also be found on AO3.

Evelyn hears the sounds through his door before she can even enter his office, Cole's warning still echoing in her head. The tromp of heavy steps against the stone, the guttural groans, the sound of shattering… They are enough to make her pause, but the sudden silence that follows is what turns her blood to ice and she bursts inside.

She is not sure what to expect. Cullen in pain, perhaps. Cullen with his box of lyrium open before him, yielding to the seduction of power. Cullen collapsed on the ground as his mind and muscles protest withdrawal's violent assault.

Whatever it was, it was not a drawn sword held against her throat before she is halfway across the room. It was not his achingly familiar voice spitting out, "Give me one reason I should not run you through, demon," in a stranger's icy tone, warped by fear. It was not the lack of recognition in his eyes as he glares at her with hatred.

Freezing in place, Evelyn's eyes dart around the room, taking in the messy desk, the upturned wooden box on the ground, lying in a puddle of blue liquid and surrounded by shards of glass, before focusing on him. The hand holding the blade trembles and she shifts back, just a little, to prevent it from nicking her skin.

He follows even her slight movements with a tense expression, his hand gripping the hilt so tightly that his knuckles are white, and she swallows hard, feeling a twinge in her chest at the barely-controlled terror in every inch of his frame.

She is unfamiliar with the process of lyrium withdrawal, has been too busy chasing down wardens and planning for balls to properly research its effects. Carefully, she puts aside her self-remonstration with a mental note to ask Cassandra for help with some research, then does what she can: she waits.

"Cullen?" The word is hesitant, a breath in the fragile silence.

For a heartbeat, nothing happens, and then horror floods his expression as recognition returns to his gaze. "Evelyn," he says hoarsely, his eyes jumping around the room, as if looking for an intruder. "What are you-? Where is-?"

His shaky tone breaks her heart, but she keeps her voice calm as she slowly, gently, pushes the hand holding the blade down. "We're in Skyhold. It's okay."

When his face crumples with a whispered apology, she abandons caution, moving to wrap her arms around him. The sword clatters to the ground with the sound of metal on stone as he clings to her, trembling, and she feels her heart constrict.

"You're alright. No one can hurt you now."