A/N: (long one sorry!) As i write A Thousand Tomorrows I have been having warring story lines in my mind, so I am starting this one. Now the two Scarletts will stop fighting each other. This is not book centered because frankly I hate writing Ella and Wade. So more movie based with movie timelines (melanie collapsed before bonnie was buried and it appeared she died shortly after, etc..) The title is the only thing I expect to be inspired from Scarlett, the sequel. At the end, Rhett says "We could go anywhere, as long as we're together, the world will belong to us." So, the title to this was born. I also want to experiment a bit with switching first person perspectives back and forth(for my own novel that i am working on). I hope you don't hate it too much!
Chapter One: Rhett
I watched as Scarlett walked out of the room where Mrs. Wilkes lay. She glanced briefly at Ashley, who was sitting at the table. His head was in his hands and his hair was mussed. I'd already said my final words to Melly when she'd asked for me hours ago, and because of that I knew just how bad the woman appeared.
Despite everything, I found myself wishing I could have spared Scarlett the image. Ashley looked as bad as I imagined myself to look when Scarlett was presumably dying in her bed after the fall, and later again when… I shook my head, desperate to shake off the memory. It was hard enough being out of the house, I couldn't get caught up in the grief of another death.
Melly's imminent passing would be hard, she'd been a light in a dark world for so many. I couldn't help but to watch Scarlett as she walked past Ashley and in my direction. I felt my eyebrow raise when she reached out and placed her hand on my folded arms. I surprised to find myself unable to move. The part of me that felt burned by her touch also craved it. The part that wanted to reach out to her in comfort had been rejected before. So instead, my arms remained stiff, crossed over my chest. They didn't move from her, but they didn't encourage her, either.
Melanie lingered for several more hours and we all waited, silently. The wait was the worst part, I concluded. Everyone knew what was coming, but no one was read for it. At one point during the evening Scarlett moved, and I was sure she was going to go to Ashley. Instead, however, she sat down on the settee. Strangely, I felt bereft in her absence and when she glanced up at me, my legs moved involuntarily to join her.
We stayed that way until Dr. Meade came out of the room, and called for Ashley. A few moments later Ashley's cry of grief told all in the house what they needed to know. Melly was dead. Beau walked down the stairs and ran into his mother's room, Ashley emerged shortly after with the boy in his arms, sobbing.
I moved to stand, desperate to leave the house, but Scarlett's hand bolted out once more and grabbed onto mine. Looking down I could see that her knuckles were white as she gripped me, and I can see the grief across her face. She bore her grief in silence and with little physical indication, proof of the strength that she's always had. India was sobbing in the corner opposite of us, and Aunt Pitty had fainted, so opposite of the woman who sat at my side.
"Please, take me home, Rhett." I looked down as the quiet words slipped from her mouth.
Nodding, I placed a hand over hers, holding it between the two of mine. This time when I moved to stand, I pulled Scarlett with me and i couldn't help but feel something tug at my heart as she clung to my side. We took our leave in silence, and walked back to our home in the same fashion. She leaned on me still as we walked up the stairs to the front door and across the threshold.
"Scarlett…" I began, speaking to her for the first time in days. It wasn't until the words were out of my mouth did I realize that I hadn't said a single word to my wife since Bonnie's accident. Even then, the words we had shared had been full of malice. I regretted them, but I couldn't tell her that. "You should rest."
Scarlett looked up once again and her eyes met mine. "You should too…"
"I can't sleep. I haven't been able to since…" I trailed off, finding it hard to say Bonnie's name out loud.
"Stay with me." I wondered if the shock of her words was apparent on my face. The offer surprised me and when I looked to find some sort of plan or cruelty in her eyes, there was none. The only thing I could see was complete exhaustion.
Scarlett's gaze left mine, and she began to look around the room. It was as if she was waiting for something or someone to appear. My gaze followed her. I hadn't been in my wife's room by invitation since Bonnie's birth, and the only time I'd been in it all since then had been the night following the ever present Mr. Wilkes' birthday party. That memory brought me pain as well. I regretted my behavior and the loss of the baby I'd never get to know was the hardest thing I'd imagined I could deal with. On top of that, there was Scarlett. She'd been so ill and in so much pain I'd known she would die and I knew that I couldn't feel pain like that ever again...until Bonnie.
"Scarlett…" I began, drawing out her name because I wasn't entirely sure what I would say next.
"Please, Rhett. I can't bare to be alone in this house. It's so quiet now." With her words, I understood the look she'd been giving the room. She'd been waiting to hear our child's laugh, or mamm's scolding, or see a bolt of blue running around, but there'd been none of that to greet her.
I couldn't bring myself to say anything. The words wouldn't come in thought or in word. I couldn't chastise her or mock her as I once would have and nor could I find the ability to tell her no. With a small nod of my head we both turned and began to walk up the stairs. She'd dropped her hand from me, and although we were no longer touching, we walked as close as possible. I followed Scarlett to the end of the hall where her room was, and couldn't help but feel like I was trespassing on some sort of sacred ground. She opened the door, and walked inside. Following behind her, I closed the door once were both inside. The click of the latch confirmed that we were now completely alone with each other.
Scarlett went immediately to her wardrobe and withdrew a long nightdress that I hadn't seen before. In the years since Bonnie's birth I had cared less and less about what she'd spent our money on, and even less about the clothes she wore in a room I was locked out of. That hadn't always been the case, I'd quite liked picking out clothes for Scarlett. Before we married, I wanted to give her the things that no other men, including Mr. Wilkes, could give her. After we'd married I'd enjoyed spoiling her, and it had the added bonus of combating her completely awful taste in fashion.
"Do you hear any of the servants about?" My focus returned to her, and I knew she referred to needing help with her undressing. I'd never understood women's clothing, I sometimes had felt that they spent more time in the dressing and the undressing then the actual wearing of the items.
"I think we might perhaps let them have this one evening to rest. They too have dealt with a lot the past few days. I can help you prepare for bed, I have done it before, I'll probably remember the basics." I felt the corners of my mouth turn upwards into a smirk, and the reality of how easily I'd fallen back into the teasing manner we'd had in the beginning, sank in. It was the same teasing that had turned colder with time, and sought to mock her more so than amuse her.
Scarlett even offered a semblance of a smile as she looked at me and nodded. I walked slowly towards her, as a cat would come upon a mouse. Although sometimes I wondered who was the predator and who the prey in our relationship. When I neared her, I paused for a moment, wondering if I should do what my mind bid me and turn, leaving this room, and the house, forever.
My bags had been packed in the evening the night before. I'd planned to leave that morning, but then the news had come from the Wilke's that Miss Melly was asking for Scarlett and I, we'd left right away. I'd assumed I'd say my peace to Melly, and that would be the end of my life here in Atlanta; a neat, if painful, way to conclude. Then, I'd stayed just a little longer, and when Scarlett had touched me during her grief, I couldn't leave. Standing inches away from her in that moment, I was more torn than I'd felt about any choice I'd ever made. Should I stay, or should I go?
