I'm sorry. I've been listening to "Safe & Sound" by Taylor Swift a lot and I had this idea. I'M SO SORRY! Seriously, it took me a while to get up the nerve to write this since I kept bawling while trying to.
... sorry for just slapping Jean with the most random girl I could think of. I really am. I'll go sob in the corner now.
I don't own the song - lyrics belong to Taylor Swift or The Civil Wars or whoever wrote them.
They hold each other by the fire, surrounded by towering trees that don't block out the screaming or gunshots that fired in the night. They sit together, crying, both thinking what if he dies? I'll never be able to live with myself if that happens. And when he glances up into the taller's solemn, fearful face, he bursts into sobs again, gripping the broad shoulders of the man holding him close.
I remember tears streaming down your face
When I said, "I'll never let you go"
When all those shadows almost killed your light
I remember you said, "Don't leave me here alone"
But all that's dead and gone and passed tonight
"Marco ..." he breathes, shutting his eyes. What he wakes up to is gunfire and his lover's body covered in blood. The freckled man's eyes flutter weakly, and the shorter rushes forward, searching for a pulse. He found the feeble, faint beat of a heart underneath his uniform. "Please ... please. Don't leave me here all by myself." His body racked with sobs as he held the older's hand.
Just close your eyes
The sun is going down
You'll be alright
No one can hurt you now
Come morning light
You and I'll be safe and sound
"J - jean," he hisses, life still flickering in his eyes. "I'll always be here with you ... I'll never let you go," he whispers, eyes flickering in the weak firelight. "Never. Just promise me one thing, my ... friend ..."
"Of course," the younger sobs out, eyes darkening. "I'll do anything."
Don't you dare look out your window, darling,
Everything's on fire
The war outside our door keeps raging on
Hold on to this lullaby
Even when the music's gone
... gone ...
"Live on," he groans, head leaning back into the grass. "I don't have long, Jean. I love you. No matter what, promise me this ..." Before he whispers the next words, he pulls the sobbing man into a kiss. "You'll survive this and live life for me. Please ..."
"I ..."
Just close your eyes
The sun is going down
You'll be alright
No one can hurt you now
Come morning light
You and I'll be safe and sound
"I promise." he breathes, gripping his lover's hand. The black haired man only smiles before shutting his eyes. Peacefully, slowly, his heartbeat fades and gunshot once again can be heard in the distance. He runs, tears rushing from his eyes as he does. "Marco," he whispers as he runs, gun equipped and ready to fire. "I love you."
Just close your eyes
You'll be alright
And he does live on, being one of the few survivors not taken by war. He marries at the request of his father, though when he whispers the words "I love you" to a woman whom he had never even met - Annie Leonhart, now Annie Kirstein, who hadn't been thrilled at the arrangement - it's nothing compared to the emotion pressing on his lips when he spoke those to his beloved.
She finds his body in the bathroom one day after work, tears streaming down her face as she spots the blood all over his throat and the gun laying beside his smiling figure. On the toilet seat, there's a note that says three simple words -
Come morning light
You and I'll be safe and sound ...
"I'm home, Marco."