(A/N: this pairing needs more love, does it not? I don't own APH and its characters, although I wish I did. Now sit back, relax, and enjoy!
~Ricey)
With You, The World Seems So Big
It wasn't the first time Sesel spent the night in Ottawa Canada with Matthew, and it most certainly wasn't going to be the last.
Still, after many years of visiting for sometimes weeks on end, but during that first night, she could never get used to how big the rest of the world really was compared to her tiny island.
She lay on her side, staring blatantly at the whitewashed wall in front of her. The moonlight bathed it in a soft, blue-ish glow and as relaxing as the color itself was, she couldn't help but feel as though the bedroom was foreign to her.
Matthew lay on the far left side of the king-sized bed, and even though the two were curled up in the sheets only five feet away from each other, she felt like there were oceans and seas rumbling maliciously between them.
She couldn't help but curl her legs closer to her chest as her body shook lightly-not that her companion would be able to feel it, and if he did, the small vibrations would take what felt eons to reach his side of the bed they shared.
Sesel didn't want Matthew to think her ungrateful, for it was his idea to have her over in the first place, but she felt so distant-so far away from the nation she held closest to her heart.
Her fingers quivered and her right hand rested sprawled out over the edge of the bed.
Matthew's digital clock had been darkened, due to the slight power outage that Canada was experiencing that evening. Since there was no way of telling what time it was, the minutes ticked away practically like hours.
Tears began to sting in the corners of her eyes, and she feared that if she took even one glance at the angel facing the other wall, her heart would be crushed under an emotional weight. She refused to blink, knowing that if she did, the tears butting would flow over and slide down her cheeks.
And so she kept her chocolate browns painted open, and she continued glaring at the wall as if it had killed Pierre, her precious tuna that was swimming unhappily in his tank as she attempted to sleep.
She looked like a rag doll-her brown hair held back in two childish ponytails, and she had replaced her blue dress with a white one for the night.
Her daytime garment of choice lay abandoned on the chair by the door, and her eyes grew so unbearably arid that she was forced to blink, letting her tears fall and soak into the white cotton sheets. She trembled, finally letting sorrow shiver her delicate frame like an earthquake.
Although it was late May at the time, Sesel's world went cold, and she bit her lip to prevent from emitting a distressed sob.
"Sey…" that whisper brought her plummeting back to the present as she heard the rustle of thin fabric.
Sandy blonde hair ticked her face and she was slowly flipped over, laying in Matthew's arms and forced to look up into his beautiful face.
"Why're you crying, eh?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper as he brushed a tear from her face.
"When I'm here…" she replied, the words dribbling over her lips like rain, "The world just seems so big…and you seem so far away."
His arm snaked around the small of her back, and leaned in closer, their noses stroking one another ever- so- slightly.
Matthew left a small kiss on Sesel's tanned shoulder,
"I'm closer now, aren't I, eh?"
She nodded, her shakes having subsided to mere trembles.
"I'm not going anywhere," he shushed, nuzzling his face into her hair, "I just love you too darn much."
She giggled cutely, and he gently touched her nose lightly with the tip of his finger.
"What's so funny?" he asked as if he already knew the answer.
"Say it again, please," she begged, looking up at Matthew with round, tear reddened eyes.
He kissed her forehead,
"I love you."
"Again?"
He chuckled, pressing his lips to her nose,
"I love you."
His words of adoration washed over her like the waves of the ocean, repeating in a tender lullaby until Sesel was sent into a calming ocean of sleep.
When she awoke, Matthew was gone, a diamond ring engraved with their names laying in his place.
