A/N: I'm so sorry for not updating We Stitch These Wounds for so long, but I have managed to break my documents app which has all my fics and muses on it. I'm trying to fix it, but if it doesn't work I'll re-write the next chapter. But in the meantime I'll post this drabble thing, which I wrote ages ago and and had it saved on my drive rather than an app. It doesn't really flow but hey, I'm posting it anyway. It's loosely based on the song I Won't Give Up by Jason Mraz. Enjoy!
I Won't Give Up
Robert looked across their bed to gaze into her eyes, once again marvelling at how brilliantly blue they always were. Every look, every stare held so much meaning, every gaze seemed to pierce deep into his soul. Every time those beautiful blue eyes gazed upon him lovingly, his heart would leap. And every time they filled with tears, mostly due to his own actions, he hurt and desperately tried to chase them away.
Cora had come so far from that nervous young woman first gazing out at her new home, tightly clutching Robert's arm as if drawing a sense of strength from his presence. She had grown stronger, more comfortable with the 'strange traditions of the English', as she liked to call them, over time and had grown more beautiful with every day that passed. She had also sacrificed so much, her family, her friends, her home, her country. All to be with him. But she'd done more than that. She'd given up her old life to make a new one by his side. And most importantly she had given him her heart.
They had been through so much together, the good and the bad. But through it all he knew that he would continue to love her no matter what. During this testing time after Matthew's car crash they needed each other. Sybil's passing wrenched them apart, tore their hearts to shreds as they hurt and blamed and hated themselves without the other to turn to, without the other to reassure them and to hold them as they wept. Yes, they got out the other end alright, but not entirely complete. It seemed as if everything was trying to rip them apart at the seams whilst they were desperately trying to hold fast, to stay strong. This time would be different, this time had to be different, this time they would get through whole.
Their conversations late at night were filled with concerns, hopes, dreams and ideas for the future. They opened up to each other more completely than they had done in a long time, Robert even talking about his emotions, something any Englishman would have found hard. They declared their love for the other frequently, drawing strength from each other's freely spoken adorations. Of course there would be times when they just needed some space to think and ponder on their own, but they would always come back to each other, sharing their thoughts, their worries and their fears.
Because Robert knew that eventually all things died, even stars burnt out. But this didn't mean that you couldn't be hurt, that you couldn't be scarred by death. He was determined make the most of his time on this earth with Cora. He had missed opportunities to tell her what she meant to him, he had hurt her and had wasted time wallowing in his own feelings rather than loving her. He still had a lot to learn about her, even after over 30 years of marriage, but he would strive to keep her happy, as happy as he made her. If there was one thing that the feeling of pain and death that seemed to have surrounded the house for the past weeks taught him, it was that life was short and that he should cherish every moment with Cora because one day it would all slip away from him. He enveloped her in his arms, Cora letting out a contented little sigh, gently running his hands up and down her back. She tilted her head up and pressed her lips to his neck before settling back down into his embrace.
He placed one hand on her cheek, Cora leaning into him, cherishing the feeling of his large palm against her skin. She drew much needed strength from his touch, reassuring herself that they would get through Matthew's passing together and not suffer alone like after Sybil. Robert leant forward and whispered gently in her ear the same words he spoke after that eventful day at the Dower House with Dr. Clarkson. "I won't give up on us." Cora smiled and wrapped her arms tighter around him snuggling into his chest. Ever since she nearly died from Spanish Flu, Robert vowed to love her, to look after her for the rest of his days. He knew that the only way that they could ever get through the heartbreak of the loss of a family member was together. So he gave her all his love and she gave all hers.