After the rescue, worry settled in again. Billy hadn't lied. The process had sped up when she was in his clutches. By my own guessing she had three days, give or take, to live. The problem was, she wouldn't wake up. I could do nothing. I, the great Bernard, was, for one of the few times in my life, powerless. And it irked me like nothing ever had. All I could do was sit by her small bed and watch her slowly disappear. Even now, she looked like she was made of glass. Some color still resided in her but it wasn't much.
Brushing back the wayward curls from her face I began to talk. Not like I usually did: begging her to wake up, asking her not to die. Instead I began to tell her about herself in my eyes. I supposed she deserved it after I had been such an ass.
Don't get me wrong, I don't like swearing but at the moment 'ass' seemed a pretty good descriptive word for how I had acted. I had acted like that for years. Hundreds of years. How I was going to make it up to her was still beyond me but for now, this small doorway into my mind seemed enough.
"You know, you're not as annoying as I say you are to your face," I started, unsure of how to begin this. In truth I knew what I had to say but how to say it was a completely different feat. "I enjoy the way you question things, you make me think. Sure it makes me mad that somebody might just one day prove me wrong. I could tell you about your looks but I'm sure you already know everything I could possibly say to you. But it won't hurt to remind you." I cut off. My throat was tightening painfully already, the very features I was about to describe I had before insulted quite cruelly. Taking a few deep breaths, I began again.
"Your skin looks like to me as if the sun in the dessert at dusk- yes I have been there don't ask, decided to take residence inside you. It's hard for me to not run my fingers over it when you're around. Your hair, what is there to say about it other than it is wild, beautiful and perfectly frames your eyes. Your eyes are my favorite part you know, most elf eyes show Christmas, yours don't. They show this wildness, as if they belonged to the jungle. They sparkle when your emotions are high and I love it." The old me would have been painfully embarrassed by now. I couldn't have cared less. This baring of my thoughts, it was so…different. Exhilarating different, I felt lighter, like my heart could fly right out of my chest. I had to keep going. The drain stopper had been pulled; the water wasn't to be stopped now.
I grabbed her hand. The frail hand simply laid there, engulfed in my own hand, a hand that had written for hours on end. A hand that had opened the door to my cold empty bachelors home for years. Hopefully, I wouldn't have to open that door to a cold and empty home for more that a few more days. Her hand felt different but I kept talking.
"You know I love your attitude right? Not all joyful like the rest of them. Sure, call me a pessimist when you wake up. I'm fine with it as long as it's you that has it. No, you're sad sometimes, angry most times because of me, but when have I ever really seen you actually happy?" I thought now of what was now left to say. The thing I never thought I would ever say. Until now.
"I would do anything to make you happy Lily. Having you here with me makes me happy enough so I want to return the favor. I'd marry you this second if you could talk."
Giving the warm hand a squeeze, tiredness suddenly took over my senses. My body felt like it had been lined with lead and heated up comfortably. Without much thought I crawled onto the bed, pulling Lily into my arms and drifted off to sleep realizing in the moment before I totally lost consciousness that this is how I wanted to spend the rest of my evenings, nights, mornings. I wanted to spend those hours wrapped around Lily, feeling her small form pressed against mine, feeling in my chest that I had somebody to love, protect, honor and care for.
AUTHORS NOTE: GUYS IM SOOO SORRY I HAVENT UPDATED IN FOREVER! PLEASE SOMEBODY SMACK ME! Well in return I have gifted you with a piece of fluff and some hope. Four boyfriends and one summer later, here I am re reading my stories so I can actually write what happens next.