Richard opened his mouth to speak, but he was rendered speechless by Aqua's beauty. It was like he was seeing her for the very first time. He sighed, defeated, and looked down. He had moved from behind Aqua and now sat in front of her, with his legs bent on each side of her and his elbows resting on his knees.

"What are you doing to me?" he asked, too abashed to look at Aqua's face. Aqua cocked her head slightly and smiled. "I don't even recognize myself when I'm with you. And I mean that in the best of ways." Her smile widened, and Richard's heart beat faster than it had in years. He continued, "I am a different man when I am with you. You make me want to tell you every little secret I've ever had in my long life. You make me feel so young and carefree again. You transform me into a better version of myself that I never knew I could be."

Aqua's face when he finished talking was full of emotions that Richard couldn't accurately describe. She extended her legs and placed them over Richard's, to each side of him. Richard's eyes followed Aqua's right hand as she extended it, almost in slow motion, and placed it on his cheek. She gasped quietly and smiled when she felt his stubble, which he knew she liked. She rubbed his cheek with her thumb and smiled at his lips. He wanted to kiss her again.

But he owed it to her to tell her the truth before anything else happened.

"Do you miss her?" Aqua asked suddenly, her hand still on Richard's face. Richard frowned slightly in confusion. "Isabella, I mean." She had lowered her eyes.

Richard examined her face as he placed his hand over hers. He knew that the talk about Isabella had made her uncomfortable perhaps even upset and he didn't want her to feel worse. Yet he knew that hiding the truth from her would be detrimental to their relationship.

"Yes."

"Ah." She put her hand back on her lap.

"She was my only family, Aqua," Richard explained. "When she died, I was all alone."

"Yes, of course," Aqua said quickly. "I didn't mean… I know. Of course you miss her." She huffed. "I would actually think you were heartless if you didn't."

Richard laughed quietly in an attempt to lighten the mood. It worked, and a hint of a smile appeared on Aqua's rosy lips. He wanted desperately to kiss those lips. In the moonlight, Aqua looked beyond extraordinary. He tried once more to say what he had to say, but Aqua was just too ravishing. Instead, something else escaped his lips.

"For years, I have admired the stars and marveled at the moon, and none compares to you. You are radiant," he said. Aqua's eyes were big and bright. "Yes, I miss Isabella, and I always will, because she was all I had for so long. But you're here now. Turning my world upside-down. Changing everything I thought I knew, everything I thought I was. And I like that."

It only took a small pause from Richard for Aqua to wrap her arms around his neck and press her lips against his. He was taken by surprise, but he didn't waste a second and immediately embraced her at the waist. Their kiss from earlier was nothing compared to this one. The first one was shy and soft, while this one was intense and full of passion. Richard felt Aqua settling on his lap when he remembered what he had intended to tell her. It was hard, though, to stop. She was so close, skin to skin, and they were just in their underwear. This thought embarrassed him, yet it didn't stop him from running his hands up and down her bare back. Isabella completely left his mind for the first time in years.

Isabella.

Isabella was back and nagging him to tell Aqua the truth. She deserves it, he could almost hear her saying. Richard knew that, too. He tried to force himself to stop, but it really took a lot of effort. A few more minutes passed before he was strong-willed enough to pull away. It wasn't easy, though, because Aqua didn't want to. He had to hold her back so she wouldn't kiss him again.

She looked at him with a puzzled expression on her pretty face, her chest moving up and down with her agitated breathing. Richard smiled at her, breathing hard as well. Aqua smiled back, looking incredibly embarrassed and incredibly beautiful. She burst out laughing nervously, and it was a lovely sound. He laughed with her as she removed herself from his lap and returned back to her original place, pressing her knees to her chest.

"I think I interrupted you," she said, abashed.

"Oh, I can't complain," Richard responded. "Feel free to interrupt me anytime." He wished he hadn't said that. They couldn't keep making out before he told Aqua the full truth about himself.

"Oh, I will, and you'll have to stop me again."

"Maybe I'll have to stop myself first," Richard said, and again wished he hadn't. Aqua was tearing down his self-control, yet he didn't really mind it.

They sat there, giggling, catching their breaths for a couple of minutes. Richard tried to find a way to start his story in a sensible way. But what was a sensible way? Because truly, what had just happened? Had it been real? He wasn't sure, but it had been wonderful, and desire still floated in the air. He knew that his story would break the mood and maybe even make Aqua have another breakdown. Nevertheless, it was only fair to tell her now now that the conversation about Isabella had started if Aqua really was to stay with him on the island.

"What do you want to tell me, Richard?" Aqua asked, serious but still smiling. "I can see it in your face that it's something important. Is it something that I won't really like?"

Richard smiled at how smart and perceptive Aqua was, but it was a sad smile. She really wouldn't like it.

"Just tell me. The sooner you do, the sooner we can…" She left the sentence floating in the air and looked away, embarrassed.

Richard smiled at her once more. He could stare at her face for days on end, at her tiny freckles and her long eyelashes and her flushed cheeks. His heart or his brain or something inside him told him that Aqua was the only one that mattered now. Others could come and go, but if she stayed, Richard didn't need anyone else.

Because of this, he had to speak –now. He took a deep breath.

"Of course," he started. "You're right. I don't think you will like this very much." Aqua's face changed; Richard wished he didn't have to go on. "This island is very peculiar, you know that." She nodded. "And I've told you about Jacob. He is very peculiar as well. He protects this island, and I help him by working as a sort of link between him and the people who come here. But it takes longer than a lifetime to provide the help he needs."

Aqua's forehead wrinkled in confusion. She extended her legs again and started fidgeting with her left braid. She didn't say anything.

"I told you I was thirty-six. That's technically true." Richard spoke slowly, trying not to alter Aqua. She still looked confused. "The thing is… I've been thirty-six for a long time."

"I don't get it," Aqua said, almost like a question, after a long pause. "Do you just not celebrate your birthdays anymore? Are you actually older than you say you are?"

"Well, yes," answered Richard. She wasn't exactly wrong. "And no. I am thirty-six. Biologically. Chronologically, I'm much older."

Aqua snorted.

"What, are you a vampire?" The amusement in her face told him that she didn't believe it. But she hadn't believed that they were in 1954 either, and then it had completely broken her. Richard couldn't make her go through that again, but he had to.

"I'm not a vampire," he said seriously, but not as urgently as he had spoken before.

"Then what? I don't understand what you're trying to tell me."

"I know. I'm sorry I have to tell you this, Aqua, but you deserve to know. You'd find out eventually, anyway."

"Just say it, Richard." Aqua was getting exasperated, like before.

They stared at each other for a little while, while Richard gathered the courage to tell her the truth.

"I was born in 1831. Jacob made me immortal. I have been thirty-six for eighty-seven years." There. He had said it.

Aqua's pretty face remained unchanged for a few seconds. Then Richard's words started to sink in. Her features went from exasperated to confused to shocked to confused again. Then disbelief took over.

"I'm sorry, what? The time-traveling I can believe. Somehow. Because I experienced it. But you being immortal? Please. That's ludicrous, Richard," she said, and her voice sounded annoyed. It hurt Richard. He didn't know how to handle an annoyed Aqua without getting annoyed himself, but he tried, nonetheless.

"It's true," he said, plainly. Aqua rolled her eyes.

"Is this you making fun of me or something? Are you mocking me because I'm younger than you?" she asked, irritated. "Because I have no self-control and I jump at you the second you say something nice?"

Aqua sounded furious, and her comment made no sense to Richard. Is that what she believed Richard thought of her?

"Of course not, Aqua–"

"Then what kind of nonsense is this?!"

She wouldn't believe him, Richard was sure of that. How could he make her believe him? By proving his words, of course.

"Aqua, I'm not lying to you. Let alone mock you. Look, I cannot kill myself or hurt myself. It's part of Jacob's deal." He raised a hand to stop Aqua's protest, and then placed that same hand in the fire.

"Richard!" she exclaimed, alarmed.

But when Richard removed his hand, it came out unharmed. Aqua's mouth opened in shock.

"How did you do that?" she asked in a whisper.

"Told you. Immortal."

Her hazel eyes traveled from Richard's hand to the fire to his face and to his hand again. Acceptance colored her face. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad, after all.

"You're not lying then?" Her voice was still low.

"No, Aqua," Richard said. "I would never lie to you."

They remained in silence for a while as Aqua processed this new information. Richard watched her carefully, hoping she wouldn't break down again. When she looked back at him, there was something strange in her eyes that Richard couldn't name.

"You're telling me the truth, then? This Jacob person… What is he?"

"I'm not sure myself," he answered sincerely.

"Why?" she asked, but Richard wasn't sure exactly what she was referring to. "I mean… Why you? Is everyone else immortal, too?"

"No. Just me."

"Why?" Aqua asked again. "Who are you?" There was something in that question –the way she asked it, perhaps– that hurt Richard. "I mean, really. You protect this place. You're your people's leader, but not really. You speak Spanish." She made a small pause. "You're immortal. You're a mass-murderer. What are you?"

Richard didn't say anything. He didn't know what to say. Aqua was laying down these facts about him like accusations. The love that had been in her voice just fifteen minutes before was completely gone. Something that Richard couldn't describe –but that he disliked– had taken over.

"Where do you come from? Why did this Jacob make you immortal? Tell me," Aqua demanded.

Richard complied. He told her his full story. About Tenerife, Isabella's death, the doctor, the slave ship. About how the Monster had tricked him, using Isabella's face like it had used Kay's. How Jacob had convinced him that he wasn't in hell. How and why he requested Jacob to live forever. How he had helped the dozens of people that had arrived to the island throughout the decades.

Aqua's face shifted ever so slightly as Richard told his story. However, it was clear that she believed him, and this was a relief.

"There you have it," Richard concluded. Aqua remained in silence for a minute or two more, processing his story.

"Okay," she finally said. "Okay."

"You believe me?"

"Yes."

Richard felt like he could breathe again. He had feared that such a far-fetched story as his would cause her even more stress. But she believed him, so everything was okay.

He reached up to touch her face, but she jerked away. This shocked Richard. He frowned, and watched, confused, as Aqua folded her legs. He tried to touch her hand, but she jolted it back.

"What is it?" he asked flatly.

Aqua wouldn't look him in the eyes. She shook her head, but Richard wasn't sure if it was more to herself than to him. She exhaled and bit her bottom lip.

"I can't. This is… strange," she said, not really clearing it up for Richard. She noticed his confusion and said, "Look, I was okay with this –loved this, really– when I thought you were just thirty-six. But you just told me that you're not. That you're a hundred and twenty-three years old." Richard's frown deepened. Aqua looked exasperated again. "I'm twenty-three. Hell, we're not even from the same century!" Was there aversion in her voice? "I just can't. I don't think I feel comfortable enough to do this."

Richard's heart fell. What was happening? Everything was going so well. He didn't know what to say.

"Aqua, I–"

"Yeah, I know. I like you, Richard, a lot. I may even …" She shrugged. "But I don't think I can do this."

They just stared at each other for a minute. Richard's head was fuzzy. Everything was supposed to be going fine. Aqua wasn't supposed to have a breakdown. What was going on? Richard was breathing fast, beyond confused now, something he hadn't been for decades.

Without another word, Aqua moved away from Richard and lay down on the other side of the fire.

Seven years would pass before Richard could kiss Aqua again.