Chapter 22: Fate of the Heart
The morning light from the massive window crosses Ford's features, him blinking against it and with a free hand fixed his askew glasses on his face.
His left arm was tingly and numb, and when he looked to his left side to see Layla curled up tightly against him. Immediately his heart pounds in his chest and his face flushes red, feeling her slow and calm heartbeat against his body. He has never even kissed a girl let alone sleeping next to them in bed.
With his free hand he brushes some of her stray black hair behind her ears, her giving a small smile in her sleep. She was still very pale, but not as sickly looking as before. Her breathing was calm and slow, no longer ragged and pained like it was the night before. All in all she looked a lot better than the night before. That small smile on her face as she slept made him fight the urge to hold her tight to him.
A soft moan escapes from her as she gently stirs. Layla's eyes fluttered open, her eyes bright and electric blue once again, no longer the dull blue that was suffering before. Her arms tighten around Ford's waist and she nuzzles closer to him and closes her eyes. Suddenly, they fly open and they dart between him and her arms and the way her body was so close to him. Her face blushes into a deep crimson and she suddenly pushes herself away from Ford with a yelp, causing him to fall onto the ground with a loud thud.
"OW!" Ford screams, him rubbing his head as it had smacked against the ground. He looks up to see Layla's electric blue eyes peering over the side of the bed. "What the hell was that for!?" he demands, giving her a hard glare.
"Sorry…" she apologizes, the rest of her face beginning to show, Ford seeing her embarrassed face.
Ford gets up, the bed was actually as tall as to up to his waist, so he had taken quite a fall. There was a noticeable bump on his forehead on the right side. Layla sits up on the bed and adjusts herself to her knees, for once her being able to look straight on to Ford's face equally, her blue eyes gazing into his brown. She makes a grimace at the sight of the bump and gingerly touches it, causing Ford to wince in pain.
"I'm sorry… I didn't mean to get you hurt…" she tells him softly, her hand still on his bump.
Ford gives her a soft look. "Shouldn't I be the one saying that…?" he asks her sadly. "After all it is because of me that you got poisoned… you almost died."
She gives a small smile, making Ford's heart flutter. "I'm fine… the good news is that I am immune to the poison now," she laughed, her head tilted to the side and her eyes was shut.
And that was when Ford took her face into his hands and presses his mouth to hers, her making a small sound in surprise. Layla's arms wrap around his neck and deepens the kiss, Ford's hands moving from her face to her waist. They pull apart, both panting slightly and hearts racing.
Ford's eyes widened in surprise and moves about an arm's length from her, but his hands were still on his waist. "I-I-I'm sorry…!" he stammers quickly and nervously. "I-I-I-I wasn't th-thinking-!"
Layla then kisses him to cut him off, her arms once again going around his neck, but this time she was gripping his hair as well. When she pulled away from him she gives him a smile. "It's fine… you're actually a bit better when you aren't thinking."
Ford furrows his brow and was about to say something sarcastic when there was a loud sound from outside the room. A roar was heard and things were being thrown about, the sudden loudness causing Layla to jump away from Ford. Ford glances around, trying to find a spot to hide or to escape. He then spots a window and he grabs Layla's hand to tug her along.
"They're wondering why the door was locked when it's a model home…" Layla explains, her ears staining to hear in the other room. "Stanford… did you break us into here?" She then gives him a glare.
"Uh…" Ford stammers. The door handle to the room they were in was then jiggling, so Ford runs to the window with Layla in tow, but she was wobbly and still a little weak from her poisoning. In a matter of seconds he got her on his back in a piggyback position and opens the window wide just as the door opened.
The monsters roared in fury, wondering why their model home was ruined. Ford and Layla were already gone, Ford climbing down the side with the small ledges. Layla was gripping tightly to him, both her arms and legs wrapped around him. Ford was making sure that he was swiftly climbing down while also being as cautious as he could.
Once Ford made it to the ground, he ran down an alleyway to hide themselves. Ford as panting from his exhilarating climb. He was still carrying Layla on his back, her grip still tight on him. He gently set her down, her still wobbly, and he held her hand tightly so she was supported.
"Well… that could've gone worse…" Layla muttered.
"Yeah…" Ford agrees. Is face was a blushed pink, his hand still in Layla's. He honestly couldn't believe that just happened, that he kissed her… "So… about what happened back there… when I…"
Layla replies, "Yes, Ford?"
"Um… I…"
Suddenly something that glowed green next to them and a figure appeared out of it. Rick was there, wearing some kind of cloak, but he still was wearing his lab coat underneath. He had a few guns strapped to his back, but in his hand was the portal gun that he had designed.
"W-w-w-what up, b-b-b-bitches!" Rick drunkenly shouts, causing both Ford and Layla to jump. Rick then glances at them and gives a smirk. "O-o-o-oh, how cute, Sci-Fi and Little Layla are h-h-h-holding hands!"
"Rick!?" Ford yells in surprise. "What are you doing here!?"
Rick gives him a hard glare. "S-s-s-same as you, dumbass, I w-w-w-went through a portal."
Ford lets go of Layla's hand and stalks up to Rick. "No, I mean what are you doing here!? You keep saying you want to go home, but you're still traveling in the multiverse!" he screams. He then points a finger at Rick, clearly furious. "Every damn time you show up Magum isn't far behind…!"
Rick scoffs, "Y-y-y-you think I'm w-w-working for that asshole!?"
Ford gives him a hard glare, his brown eyes looking like a dark stone. In his mind his third journal flashed in his mind… the one that he wrote as he was slowly descending into madness. The one page… "Trust No One".
"Give me a reason that you're not," Ford finally said.
Rick then holds up the portal gun. "The reason why I can't go home is because I am missing a component that has access to the Earth part of multiverse, Bartek had the info hidden somewhere," he tells Ford, his eyes then darting to Layla. "Which I still believe that she has…"
"Why would I have it, Rick!?" Layla demands. "Why would I possibly have it!?"
"Bartek could've implanted in you or something… the man was nuts!" Rick retorts. He then sighs and rubs the corners of his eyes with his thumb and forefinger. "Okay, look, I know wherever I go Magum is following… he's following the energy signature of my gun. He keeps following me in hopes into finding you two."
"SO YOU'RE HERE NOW WHY!?" Ford screams angrily at the top of his lungs.
"Because… I got a little bit of information about our 'friend' Bill Cipher." Rick smirks, causing Ford's hard expression to slack into a confused, but intrigued expression.
"Okay, Rick… what is it…?" Ford asks.
Rick then pulls out something from his lab coat and pulls out a yellowed paper. He then unfolds it, revealing a picture. The picture was Bill Cipher in the center, surrounded by a wheel with multiple symbols. A pine tree… a shooting star… a fish-looking crescent shape… a six-fingered hand… there were more as well, but Ford felt and odd connection to those specific ones.
Ford recognized the picture, he'd seen it at the caves he was exploring while he was in Gravity Falls. If only he had heeded the warnings about summoning Bill back then… he probably wouldn't be in this situation now.
But then I would not have met Layla… that small thought went through his head.
"I know that picture," Ford tells Rick. "It was in Gravity Falls… what of it?"
Rick rolls his eyes. "Okay, s-s-s-s-smart guy, then d-d-d-did you realize that t-t-t-this was a spell to send B-Bill back to his home dimension?"
Ford raises a brown brow. "What… do you mean?" he asks. He knew it was some kind of spell or incantation, but a way to send Bill to his home dimension. But then… why would he do that? Send Bill back to beings just like him…
"Bill was banished from his home dimension…" Layla finally says. "That's what I know… he cannot return there without consequences."
"So… y-y-y-you gather up t-t-these people, and bam!" Rick then hits his fist into Ford's shoulder, it wasn't hard but it still surprised the brown haired man. "Good bye, Bill!"
"But… what about Magum?" Ford then asks him. "How do you get rid of him?"
"You don't, Stanford."
The three turn around in the entrance of the alleyway, seeing Magum standing there, two ghost looking wolves with wisps of shadow coming off their pelts. A glow of red flames surrounded the demon, and a malicious smile was on his face.
"You simply cannot get rid of me."
A/N: OH SNAP!
Thanks for reading as always!
~Skye Hendersen~
