Chapter 31

Even after Emilia broke her promise again to Dean that she wouldn't leave him, Dean was still madly in love with her. Not only did she broke his heart once, but she broke it twice. But that still doesn't change the way he feels about her and he'll let her break his heart again and again. He had fallen for her deeply and it was too late for him to get himself out of the hole that was her.

He was in his hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio that weekend, since the WWE had a live event there. After sleeping for a few hours after the show to get rid of exhaustion, he woke up a few minutes past two in the morning, breathless and drenched in sweat. Since he had nothing better to do before the show later that day, he decided to drop by Emilia's apartment building in Dayton after taking a quick, cold shower. He had no idea why he wanted to go there; all he knew was that he heavy feeling in his chest was urging him to and he couldn't ignore the it, no matter how hard he tried to.

When he got there, Dean went in through the front doors of the posh but aged brick building just like he did the first and the last time that he went there. He didn't recognize the only person in the lobby with him: it was a middle-aged woman wearing glasses with straight long thin black hair parted in the middle with white roots showing on the top of her head. She was sitting behind the front desk, typing something on the computer. Dean walked towards her and placed his right elbow on top of the polished wooden desk. It might not be as easy as before to get to Emilia's apartment this time. He preferred the bored male teenager on his phone that was here before the woman because he didn't ask a lot of questions.

"I'm here to see Emilia Morris. Is she in?"

The woman immediately stopped typing and looked up at Dean, momentarily looking surprised before smirking at him to show courtesy and to possibly hide her initial facial expression. Dean figured that she was probably surprised because it was very late, or rather very early, for someone to be asking for a person in an apartment building. The woman shook her head before taking off her glasses, lifting it to her head.

"She's not and she hasn't been for a while. Are you her familia or her amigo?"

She asked with a Spanish accent. Dean shook his head, even though he wanted to tell her that he's both her family and her friend.

"What do you mean she hasn't been in for a while?"

Dean asked, even though it was clear to him what she said.

"I haven't seen her coming in lately and neither have her neighbors. She still pays for the rent though and always a week before the due date."

This puzzled Dean. Maybe going in through the front doors wasn't such a great idea after all, since he couldn't just bribe the woman so she'll let him up to Emilia's unit without asking any questions.

"I see. Thank you for your time…" Dean paused and squinted his eyes to look at her name tag. "Antonia."

Antonia nodded and brought her glasses down to her face.

"De nada, señor."

Dean stepped out of the building and headed straight to the dark alley on the right. He looked up and started climbing the fire escape. As he did, he thought about where Emilia could possibly be. Her phone's been disconnected and she wasn't social media. Every way he thought of how to reach her was a dead end - it's like she just disappeared from the face of the Earth.

When Dean was on the highest level of the fire escape and on the floor beneath the rooftop, he stopped climbing and approached the blurry double-hung window. The window didn't have a curtain anymore, unlike before. He was expecting the window to be locked but it wasn't. He lifted the lower window sash with ease and slipped inside.

When Dean was in Emilia's apartment, a familiar feeling washed over him. There was a faint scent of vanilla in the air and it only made him miss Emilia more. Most of the furniture was covered with white fabric and dust was on every surface that wasn't covered by cloth. Obviously she hasn't been in here for a while, confirming what Antonia told him.

Dean looked around but there was nothing to see - there were were no items on the shelves or in the cupboards in the kitchen. He was still in denial that Emilia was gone, even though there was proof that she was and it was front of him.

Instead of leaving, Dean went to Emilia's bedroom even though he'd probably see nothing. Like the rest of the place, her room was bare of personal belongings, items that screamed of her. He felt something squeezing his heart before feeling it drop down.

When his eyes landed on her bed, what he did to her there flashed behind his eyes for a second and he smirked before absentmindedly reaching for the white gold band that was hanging from a silver chain around his neck - Emilia's purity ring. It was the only thing that he had that belonged to her; a symbol keeping him tethered to her, aside from the love that he had for her.

Without thinking why he wanted to do it, Dean found himself lying down on Emilia's empty bed. He stared at the ceiling full of cobwebs and thought of the memories he shared with Emilia: from the first time he saw her at the mental institution that he was in, to the first time they made love, when he first saw their son, and everything else in between. He couldn't come up with any reason why she left just when things were starting to get good, when he was just starting to become a better man for him and her and their son.

Sometime during his reminiscing, Dean had fallen asleep. When he opened his eyes, sunlight was coming through the window. Dean groaned and lied motionless on the bed for a while, letting his mind and his body to fully wake up.

A few minutes later, Dean heard the bedroom door closing, as if someone opened it then closed it after seeing him there. The sound made Dean get up from the bed and walk towards the door. He couldn't remember if he closed it when he went in hours ago or left it open, so he felt confused. Maybe it was the air that made it close on its own or someone could be in the apartment with him. The latter thought seemed absurd, but Dean had to check just to be sure.

When he got out of the bedroom, the smell of gas overwhelmed him. Instinctively, he brought his left arm up to his face to cover his nose from the the pungent smell. Before Dean could register what was happening, he saw a man in a suit holding a lit silver Zippo lighter, which landed on the carpet. A fire had started, the flames rapidly consuming every space that was covered by gas. Dean looked down and saw that his shoes were dipped in a puddle of gas. It wouldn't take long for the fire to get him.

Dean thought about going out the way he came in before he burns to death, but he was frozen in place when he saw Emilia applying a headlock to the man. She came out of nowhere, shocking him. There was the love of his life, beating the hell out of a man in a suit who was way taller than her. Due to the smoke coming from the tall orange flames, he couldn't see her and the man clearly.

Dean started coughing and he fell to his knees, his jeans seeping up the gasoline. The flames were all around him, burning everything in its way. If he was going to die there, he didn't mind - it was Emilia's place and she was there and she just saved him from a stranger. It wasn't a bad way to go out.

Before his eyelids closed and everything faded into black, the last thing he saw was Emilia's bruised face and bloody bottom lip. He tried very hard not to pass out, because she was there and he feared that she might vanish.

"Oh Dean, you shouldn't have come here. You should've let me go."

He heard Emilia say before finally passing out.

Author's note: I can't believe that it's gonna be almost a year since the last time that I updated this! How did I allow that to happen? Well, I have a life to live and as much as I enjoy writing, sometimes I just can't write and real life comes in the way of me writing something most of the time. I'm so sorry to have kept you all waiting for a new chapter. I hope you forgive me because finally, there's a new chapter! Let me know if you enjoyed this chapter by leaving a review, or following and favoriting this story and me! This chapter is just the start of what's to come, I can't wait! And oh, be sure to check out the story's new cover! - C x