Haunting
Jed frowned. "You don't like Romeo and Juliet? How on earth could you not like Romeo and Juliet!?"
Abbey rolled her eyes. "They're fourteen-year-old kids responsible for the deaths of half a dozen people, including themselves. They're reckless and overly dramatic, and I don't find it romantic. Nothing about it is romantic."
"Not even the words? 'My bounty is as boundless as the sea, My love as deep; the more I give to thee, The more I have, for both are infinite,'" he recited.
Abbey couldn't help but give him a small smile. "Yes, that one is very beautiful. But how about 'These violent delights have violet ends And in their triumph die, like fire and powder Which, as they kiss, consume.' The cadence and imagery is lovely but love should not be violent and all-consuming. That isn't love. That's lust and selfishness," she countered.
"'Do not swear by the moon, for she changes constantly. Then your love would also change,'" Jed quoted.
"Exactly. Because children know nothing of what love should be. 'For never was there a story of more woe than this of Juliet and her Romeo.' You see? Even Shakespeare himself warned us that the story would be a complete bust."
"It's a tragedy! And I don't care what you say. It's beautiful. Dying for the one you love because you can't bear to live without them is beautiful."
Abbey stared at her husband incredulously. "I can't believe you just said that! Dying for someone you love is a terrible idea. There are other people in the world that depend on that person who just died for an idea of love that cannot possibly exist."
"I'd die for you," Jed replied quite seriously. So seriously that Abbey was taken aback for a moment, almost frightened.
"I hope you wouldn't. We have a family who would need you if I were gone. You can't abandon them just because you love me," she pointed out.
"Well hopefully they'd still have you. I'm not saying I'm going to drink poison if you die. I'm saying that if it was down to me or you, I'd die for you in a second."
Abbey just stared, unsure of how to respond to that statement.
Jed repeated and amended his previous words. "I'd die for you. Of course, I'd haunt you in the afterlife, but really, it's the thought that counts."
She burst out laughing and grabbed his face in her hands, pressing a kiss to his cheek. "I'd be happy to have you haunt me, if it came to that."
"Yeah, I can just see it now. I'd knock things off shelves for the fun of it. Maybe make a cold gust of air on a hot day. Join you in the shower and in bed. And thoroughly terrorize any man who tries to pursue you after I'm gone."
Abbey sighed, "Well, let's hope we don't have to try any haunting, hmm?"
He nodded. "Agreed," he said, giving her a small kiss.