The Story of Blood and Roses

He would follow me into the darkness and back.

Who doesn't want someone who would?

I didn't.

Now, I do.

"Can I ask you a question?" I heard him ask, his voice was husky and sweet.

"Shoot." He stared into my eyes for the longest moment before opening his mouth. His lips darted out as if to taste my skin, but he licked his lips to wet them.

"If I ever asked you to put a gun to my head and shoot, would you be able to do it?" My eyes widened at the question. My hands fell to my sides, and my body recoiled. "Don't," he gulped as he closed the space I had created between us.

"What is the meaning of the question?"

"Answer me, Mia," he ordered, firmly. The palm of his hands slid from my arms to my shoulders and then went on to cradle my cheeks. How the tables had turned.

"If you betrayed me... if you pulled your gun out first. I would." I lied.

"What if I pointed it at your head and told you that I didn't love you? What if I lied?" He stunned me.

"Lie?" I choked out.

"Yes, what if I lied and told you that I didn't love you? That I never did?"

"I would believe you," I whispered. His hands grew firmer and his face came closer to mine.

"Why?" he whispered. Agony... that was what I heard.

"You can say that the earth is flat and I would believe you... You can lie to people unlike any other. You would make me believe you."

"Why would you not believe in me?"

"Because..." I couldn't tell him why. How could I tell him that I was the one that should not be believed in? That I couldn't expect honesty when I was lying.

"I love you," he whispered. Frozen, I listened to him murmur to me. I stared at him, unable to figure out a word he had said.

"I love you, Mia..." he whispered again, breaking through the haze of murky water under which I was drowning.

"No."

"Yes..." he hissed.

"How do you know?"

"I've told you... " I shook my head. "And you love me, I know."

"No." He smiled and then lowered his face to mine. His tongue tasted me first, and then his lips pressed to mine, hesitant and searching. I let him in, resigned and sad. I felt betrayed.

Why would he say that to me?

He pressed harder, urging me to tell him everything.

This time, I did.

I told him that I was scared.

I told him that I would pull the trigger if he betrayed me.

I told him that if he wanted me to trust him, he would have to earn it.

He told me to never lie to him.

He pledged to annihilate me if I ever plotted against him.

He told me that he would prove himself to him, only if I let him.

I closed my eyes, combed my hands through his hair and then peppered his face with faces.

Cienna's face was forgotten, we remained seated, making promises and getting to know each other because there was nowhere else I wanted to be. Him, I was not sure about. But as he had said, he would gain my trust if I let him.

I realized that it would be easy to let go and just let him win me over.

I realized that I would never have to lie about who I was.

I realized that I could change everything.

I realized that he... he loved me.

I thought... I thought...

I loved him.

I did.

I loved him.

I do.

God, I do.

"I have to go somewhere," I breathed as I pulled apart. He tried to move closer, but I shook my head at him.

"Don't go," he pleaded.

"I have some business to take care of," I tried to tell him. He tilted his head to a side... his eyes went somewhere so far away that I thought that he would never come back. I wanted to jump back into his arms and tell him that I was right here.

"I'll let you go if you promise that you'll come back to me."

"Always," I promised. I felt it swimming in my veins—the need to be near him.

"Then... then you can go," he sighed. He scooted to a side and then fished in his pockets. "I have to make a call, anyways," he gulped and then looked back at me. Apprehension colored his eyes.

"Make the call, Michael. I'll be back by tonight."

"Yes."

"Yes," I answered all the unasked questions. I hoped that he would understand.

I saw it in his eyes.

He did see.

He saw everything.

And after today, it would not scare me as much as it was in that moment.

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