A/N: THAAAAAAANKS for the reviews and the continued support! I love you all with a passion!
This is actually some kind of hurt/comfort chapter, mostly between Patrick and Teresa :D.
And a big thanks to Donnamour1969 for beta-ing this for me. Without you, this story would be so bad that you would almost cry at how bad it is. Thanks!
Enjoy!
Disclaimer: Nothing is mine, sadly.
Patrick looked at the sky. The stars were shining and he looked up for the two brightest. He had done that since Angela and Charlotte's deaths. He told himself that they were the stars, looking down on him and watching over him should he need it.
All of a sudden, he saw a falling star, and without doubting-even without thinking-he began walking. A bigger star appeared next to the other two, and a small smile crept over his face. If that one was Teresa, if she was dead, she would at least be with Angela and Charlotte.
He started following the stars though he had no idea why.
-YulianaHenderson-
Teresa arrived at a large lake, and she looked out at the water. She thought it looked quite clean, and so she decided to quickly bathe in it, in an attempt to clean her wounds.
She went into the water, still fully clothed, and swam toward the middle of the lake. The cuts hurt, were burning now, and she only hoped she would make it to the nearest village.
Suddenly, she felt a lot of pain and sadness. But it was not physical pain.
If she did make it to the world of the living, she would never be with Patrick again. He didn't love her and she didn't want him to come up with lame excuses why he did love her and how Red John was lying.
She started crying, and went under the surface, holding her breath. Would she be able to go through this, to drown herself? Yes, she would rather die than spend her life with a man who didn't love her. She kept her head under the surface, still thinking about Patrick when she lost consciousness.
-YulianaHenderson-
Patrick arrived at a large lake, feeling horrible. He didn't know how long he had been walking, but he was sure it had been for some miles. How would he be able to find Teresa? Suddenly, something caught his eye, and he stopped breathing. A woman was lying in the lake, face down, horribly still.
He realized that he had found her.
He shed most of his clothes before going into the water. It was icy cold since the sun had hidden in the valleys hours before.
He swam over to the body, turned it over, and his suspicions had been confirmed: it was Teresa.
He tried to feel her pulse, but there wasn't one. The cuts on her abdomen caught his eye. Her dress was cut open, and she looked so vulnerable. He felt helpless. What could he do? He took her to the shore, and gently placed her on the ground.
He brushed off her face. Her entire body was full of cuts, and Patrick suddenly felt the great urge to hit something, or somebody. He bowed down and kissed her, hoping that would bring her to life again. He slapped himself internally. He'd heard too many fairy tales; this was real life, he couldn't bring her back with a kiss.
All of a sudden, she choked, and he watched, dumbfounded.
She expelled all the water from her lungs, and when she tried to sit up, the cuts on her abdomen began to hurt again, and she fell to the ground.
Her eyes caught his, and she rolled away from his embrace.
"Leave me alone," she breathed, but he shook his head.
"No, Teresa, I'm not leaving you."
"But you don't love me, and I don't want to be with somebody who pretends to have feelings only to make me feel better."
He frowned.
"What are you talking about, Teresa? There is nobody I want to be with more than you. You are my love. You gave me a chance at living again, at truly feeling, and my feelings towards you aren't pretend. They are true, really true. I don't know where you heard those lies, but Teresa, I love you, so very much it hurts," he whispered, taking her in his arms again while he talked. She buried her face in the crook of his neck, ignoring the aching pain of the cuts.
"Red John told you this?" he asked, and she nodded.
He pulled away and kissed her. He put so much love in the kiss that Teresa felt butterflies behind the cuts on her abdomen.
Tears streamed down her face, and he pulled back to look at her.
"Let's get you to the castle," he whispered, after he succeeded in closing her dress to hide her naked flesh. When he found out the dress was too damaged to cover everything, he grabbed his shirt and gently put it on her, giving her his warmth. He quickly put on the rest of his clothes, then he put one of his arms under her legs, the other under her upper body. She wrapped her arms around his neck, feeling suddenly weak, no surprise after having almost died. She allowed Patrick to carry her, and she hoped he knew where he was heading.
The heat of his body felt wonderful, heating her not only from the outside, but also from the inside. She felt his body trembling at the latest adventure they'd experienced. She looked up at him, and saw that he was looking at her as well.
This was going to be a long walk.
-YulianaHenderson-
"What if we go to Bertram Castle? Maybe King Bertram knows something about Teresa already," Thomas offered, after a search of another five hours or so.
The rest nodded, and just when they were about to turn around, Grace suddenly yelled.
Wayne was with her in no time. She pointed at something and he followed her gaze, then he was gone. They followed him and arrived at a little house. The front door was open, and they all had the feeling that this was what they were looking for.
"You two, stay here," Kimball said to Thomas and Grace, and with Wayne, he went into the house. It was only a mere seconds later that somebody dressed in dark red clothes exited the house. Thomas and Grace acted on instinct. He reached out his foot so that the person stumbled over it, and she dove on the person, pushing him further into the ground. She looked at Thomas and he grinned.
"We're the perfect team," he laughed, and she agreed by laughing with him. He sat down on the person's feet, making it impossible to escape.
The two knights excited the house moments later and looked at Thomas and Grace, who had tackled the kidnapper. They were panting, and Grace suddenly got the feeling those two were real idiots.
"Are you fine?" Wayne asked Grace, and she nodded.
"Don't worry about me," she said, and he sighed in relief.
She rolled her eyes. The man was obviously in love with her.
Kimball knelt next to the person's head, and pulled the mask from his face.
The person was a man, likely in his late thirties. He had hair as dark as the night, as were his eyes. Thomas cringed at the sight; the man looked utterly evil.
If he were Patrick's nemesis, though, it would fit the fairytales they'd heard when they were children. The dark represented evil and death; red, blood. Light represented the good; yellow the sun, blue and green for everything that lived and died.
This man would be the evil, so dark and deadly.
Patrick would be the good, with blonde hair and green eyes. A light character who made everybody happy. He would be fighting crime, whether he wanted it or not.
"So, secret man, what would your name be?" Wayne asked, trying to sound harsh.
The man looked him in the eye, and Wayne felt a shudder running down his spine.
"I have many names: Timothy Carter, Roy Tagliaferro. But I think you would know me best as Red John," he breathed, almost unable to speak since Grace was still sitting on top of him, his chest painfully pressed into the ground.
All four stood still, frozen to the ground. The man suppressed a smile.
"Yes, you know me as Red John. You were coming for Teresa, weren't you? Too bad. The poor girl escaped. She must be somewhere in the woods, surrounded by wild animals ready to eat her," the man said, and Grace jumped up.
"Where is she?" she exclaimed. The man took the opportunity to sit up straight. Wayne and Kimball lifted the man up, holding his arms.
Red John shrugged.
"I have no idea, beautiful," he said, and she shuddered.
"I have an idea. Why don't we go search for her, and you're going with us," Kimball stated, and the man shrugged again.
"I don't know, be my guest, as they say," he said, and intertwined his hands behind his back, making it possible for the knights to tie his hands together. They did, and led him to the horses.
When they sat him on one, Kimball sat behind him, unbelievably close to this monster. He rode to the front of the group.
"Better idea. I take him to the Bertram Castle, and put him in the dungeons. You go look for the princess," Kimball said. Red John nodded enthusiastically.
"Send Patrick and Teresa my love, will you?"
Everybody rolled their eyes.
"See you soon," Kimball said, and the rest waved.
"Am I glad that he took that monster with him," Grace said, and Wayne agreed.
"I hope Kimball can handle him," Thomas said worriedly. Wayne waved it away.
"Don't worry, he looks small and weak, but he can even tackle me without trouble," Wayne said, and that made the other two laugh.
"Let's go find a princess…again," Wayne said.
"I don't know what John did to my sister, but I think that she might be wounded."
"Yes. And I don't see traces of horses or carriages, so she's walking. Look!" Grace suddenly exclaimed, and pointed at something on the ground. It was footprints, little ones, and they were presumably Teresa's. The prints went into the bushes, meaning they couldn't go further with horses.
So they tied their horses to a tree and followed the prints. Wayne was behind Grace all the time, and it made her feel weak, made her think that she needed help because she was a woman.
"Tommy, could you give us a minute, please?" she asked, and he nodded. He continued walking for a bit, and when Grace was sure he couldn't hear them anymore, she turned to Wayne.
"Look, I'm flattered that you like me, but I don't need to be protected. I'm perfectly capable of looking after myself; I've done that many times before in my life. When I'm crying for your help, then I will let you protect me. Otherwise, I will protect myself. I'm my own woman, thank you," she stated.
He smiled, and bowed teasingly.
"Of course, milady," he said, and that made her smile.
"No need for the formalities, though."
"I'm only trying to be charming."
"You needn't be; I'm just a maid."
"So?"
"So nothing, I don't deserve to be treated as a princess."
"What if I just want to treat you like a princess?" he asked, approaching her. She frowned.
"Why would you want that?"
He now reached her, and they stood toe-to-toe.
"Because you are a beautiful princess to me." His warm breath touched her face, and he linked his lips with hers. Grace smiled against his mouth.
She pulled him closer by putting her hands up to his neck. He probed his tongue against her lips, begging for entrance, and she decided to have mercy, opening for him.
"Bonnie, I think I found som-" Thomas started, but stopped when he saw the two kissing. A smile crept across his face, and he hid behind a tree.
Grace had told Thomas many times that she craved a man. Where Teresa claimed she didn't need one, laughed at hopeless attempts from foppish men to seduce her, pushed away every man other than her father and brothers, Grace really was a romantic at heart.
She couldn't read, but Thomas could. When they were both bored, Thomas would read from books, and most of the time, they were fairytales. The princess would be waiting for her knight in shining armor, or a prince on a white horse. She always told him she would be different from the princesses in those books. She wouldn't wait for the men; she would go after them.
Seeing her kissing her knight at last, Thomas felt happy for her. And when he'd seen Teresa and Patrick flirting, and kissing in the hall after they danced that last night, he felt his sisters had done well.
He'd done his job for them, now he needed to search for his own princess.
-YulianaHenderson-
Patrick was still panting heavily, and Teresa was having trouble staying awake. The ache in her wounds had subsided slowly for awhile, but now they were burning like hell.
It had started to rain, making the ground muddy and slippery.
Patrick suddenly stopped walking and put her down, laying her in his lap. He felt her forehead, and pulled his hand back as if it were burning. Her state was slowly getting worse by the minute, and he really needed to find help. He knew that the cuts weren't Teresa's biggest problem, it was the infection she'd gotten from the water in the lake. He had no idea if the water had been clean, couldn't see whether it had been a beautiful shade of clear blue.
He kissed the top of her head.
"I'm sorry, Teresa. I'm so sorry," he whispered.
She opened her eyes, and he saw that her gaze was glassy.
"What do you mean?" she replied quietly. He grabbed her hand and squeezed it a bit.
"That I pulled you into this. I knew Red John was still out to kill my joy, and I went ahead and started this with you. I shouldn't have. And I'm also sorry I didn't find you sooner; I would've been able to save you from him."
She cupped his face, her hands trembling.
"It's not your fault. It's nobody's fault. And you couldn't have saved me, I wanted to be dead," she whispered, at which he pulled her up to bury her face in the crook of his neck.
"You have no reason to be dead, no reason at all. Because I swear to God, if you are dead, I will kill myself in the slowest and most painful way to punish myself for not saving you. I love you so much that words don't seem to be enough to explain how much. Did he tell you that I was still in love with Angela?"
She nodded.
"That's what I thought. Listen, of course Angela is still in the back of my mind, and of course I miss her very much, but to let you compete with her is cruel. I wouldn't ask it from you, as I know that you are two completely different women. I love you both, but you are the one here laying in my arms, hearing this speech, and she's not. So please, believe me when I say that I love you, from the bottom of my heart, and I never want to lose you. I'm going to stand by your side for the rest of your life, whether you like it or not," he whispered.
He felt something warm wetting his shoulder, and Teresa started sobbing, the sound wrenching his heart. His angel was in agonizing pain, and all he could do was say how much he loved her.
He lifted her up and continued walking, until he found a cave.
It was surprisingly big inside, bigger than the outside would indicate. He gently placed Teresa on the floor, making sure she was comfortable enough. He reassured her that he would return, before running outside to find edible plants and leaves that would ease the pain, along with something to transport water.
He was happy that he'd been practically living outside since a very young age, because he knew almost immediately which plants to take. When he entered the cave again, he saw Teresa's eyes were closed. He almost dropped everything and hurried to her side. When he felt for a pulse, he let out a sigh of relief. She was just sleeping.
He pulled her clothes up and placed the leaves he'd found on her abdomen. He immediately saw her facial expression go from agonizing, excruciating pain to almost bearable, and he smiled. He would do for a physician.
He took off most of her clothes, leaving only her undergarments. Everything was wet from the lake and the rain, and she would catch a cold along with the infection, bruises and cuts.
He lifted her head slightly to let her drink some water, and he was glad her subconscious mind allowed the drinking into her dreams.
When he was finished playing at doctor, he looked down at her. Since all their clothes were wet, and there was nothing here that could do for a blanket or warm clothes, he decided to take nearly everything off and leave them to dry in the back of the cave. He then returned to her again, taking her in his arms, allowing her to revel in his bodily warmth. He stayed up all night, watching over her and making sure she was well. He was no sleeper anyway, had suffered from insomnia for almost a decade now. For him, nights usually lasted a short three hours, if he even went to sleep. So staying awake to protect his diamond was no problem at all.
He had tenderly brushed her cheeks when she seemed to be having a nightmare, and had checked for a pulse every five minutes, afraid she would die without him noticing. Her fever went down notably, and it calmed him when he saw a few smiles appearing on her lips every once in a while.
The rain had stopped after a few hours, and the birds started to sing again. A warm sunbeam heated the cave. The warmth had stirred Teresa, and she awoke to look immediately into Patrick's eyes. He suddenly saw small tears forming in hers.
"What's wrong? Where does it hurt?" he asked, but she shook her head.
"I've never thought I would be so happy with an arranged marriage," was all she whispered, and he bowed his head and kissed her.
A/N: So? What did you think? I admit, it was kinda fluffy, with Grace and Wayne kissing (I still ship them so bad :D) and Patrick and Teresa finding each other. And yes, maybe Patrick found her really quick, but that's what true love is, isn't it? I mean, I was in love with a boy and I had this internal radar and I knew where he was almost every minute of every day. So, maybe that's what Patrick felt, and he was subconsciously led to her in the lake :D.
And believe me, they will stay in the cave for another chapter :D.
Let me know what you think in a REVIEW, thank you!