"I thought you loved me…" Deidre says in a soft voice, clasping her hands behind her back and looking down at her boots.
"Did." Ghoul replies simply, crossing his arms and looking down at her, acting strong. Deidre feels a bit hurt and crosses her arms, rubbing them and looking away.
"What made you stop? I never stopped…" she tells him, looking up into his face, trying to put up an act of an innocent victim. Ghoul rolls his eyes, knowing she was trying to elicit pity from him. He wasn't about to fall for that old trick again. She had done wrong.
"You went too far, Dee! I told you I was done! You were going to kill Thea!" Ghoul raises his voice, letting go of some of his frustration- for a moment he feels convinced he was over her.
"She-!" Deidre stops herself before she screams. She had told herself she would talk to him, not explode. It never helped the situation and she takes a deep breath to relax. "It's happened before, Ghoul. We were over her! We forgot. We lived happy. Didn't we? I don't care about her… what hurt me is that you lied to me… me. After I told you everything…" She looks away, taking the victim route again.
"Yeah right, you didn't tell me anything! You lied and hid secrets all the time! Don't act so innocent, I don't buy it." He rolls his eyes again and looks away.
"No, I didn't! I told you everything, Ghoul!" She turns back to him, standing strong and speaking passionately. "Do you know how hard it was to admit I loved you, especially with someone like Dee around? I trusted you with everything!" She softens, cradling her arms and looking down. "I thought you'd feel the same way towards me…" Ghoul watches her and feels a pull to respond, to embrace her, to tell her she was right! But he knew he couldn't, he shouldn't- he wouldn't!
"Whatever" he says and turns to leave, walking slowly. Inside he fights the familiar battle of memories and logic, just wanting to get away from the source of his confusion and drown them out in a gallon of coffee. Deidre watches him leave with a slight glare and follows. "Don't 'whatever' me, Ghoul!" She reaches and grabs his wrist, pulling him around to face her. "I know what you're doing! You want to escape, as you always do! Escape from me, from everything, but you can't escape from yourself, Ghoul!" She stares right into his eyes, not about to give up. Ghoul's arm tenses up slightly at the old feel of the cold, dainty fingers on his skin and the voice in his head wished they rested on his cheek.
"Let. Me. Go." He says through gritted teeth, trying to scare her off.
"No." Deidre replies sternly, keeping a firm grip on him. "I know you, Ghoul. Stop lying to yourself. I know it bugs you… that feeling of longing. Maybe late at night when you're alone or when something triggers a memory… 'Why am I thinking about her?' I know you miss it, Ghoul… miss us… miss the love that only we had… and still can have…" Her grip and expression softens, trying to spark that flicker of a flame hidden inside him. Ghoul gets caught in her eyes and a wave of memories and emotions rushes to him suddenly. He hesitates and regrets it soon after.
"You don't know anything about me." He pulls his hand away from her and turns, walking away again. Deidre smirks, noticing his hesitation- She's getting there! She follows once more and grabs his elbow. She pulls with more force and swings him towards her. When he is in front of her she puts a hand behind his head and pulls his face down to her, kissing him with all the power and emotion she has. This is her last shot, all or nothing. Ghoul's eyes grow wide as another wave of heat goes over Ghoul as his mind races. Should he push her away? Should he indulge her and then trick her? Should he just give in and take what happens? While trying to sort out the neurons firing in his brain he feels his lips mimicking hers in movement. His mind yells to stop but his body refuses to listen. His arms wrap around her waist and his fingers slide into her hair.
He kisses her back for a few moments until his mind gives a final resistant move and Ghoul pushes away from her. He stares, wide-eyed and out of breath, as she does the same, also out of breath. The moment hangs over them for what seems like an eternity. Deidre waits; she has tried her best and if it wasn't enough she would have to accept defeat and get used to missing that part of her heart. Ghoul tries to catch his breath, looking over her and trying to understand what is going on.
In a split second lapse of concentration he rushes to Deidre and embraces her, cradling her face in his hands and bringing it up to kiss. Deidre's face is even more surprised than his had been and she hesitates to respond to Ghoul's powerful kiss. She soon realizes what is going on and returns his kiss just as passionately, cradling his face in her hands. He lets go of hers and put his hands on the small of her back, pushing her closer to him. One of Deidre's arms slides around his neck as she lets the fingers of the other hand graze the side of his face. She pulls away slightly and kisses the wound she had made on his lips last time they were together. Ghoul flinches slightly, the skin still tender, as he feels Dee will turn suddenly and try to rip his lips off again. This is surreal, but even if it is all a dream, he intends to drag it out as long as he can. Deidre gives a small chuckle and smirks, kissing down to the crook of his neck. She peeks up and then sucks lightly- if this all crumbles into dust, at least she had marked him. Ghoul leans his head back, exposing his neck to the familiar feeling. He runs a hand through her long hair and along her back and when she finishes he holds her around the waist. Deidre gets on her toes to peck him softly and then rests her head on his chest.
"I still love you…" she whispers, wrapping her arms around him. Ghoul kisses the top of Dee's head gently and inhales her scent deeply- the scent of flowers only she seemed to have. "I still love you too…." He whispers in return. Deidre exhales in happiness and relief. She hugs him tighter as a few tears roll down her face. Dee sniffles and hides her face in his chest, never having liked crying. He notices she is crying and wipes her tears off with the side of his hand, smiling softly. She chuckles shyly and wipes her eyes herself, trying to stop crying. Ghoul chuckles, silly Dee, always worried about her image. He hugs her tighter and rests his head on hers and they stay embraced in their moment, still in time.