The Phoenix Order: An MCSM Fanfic | Book 1/?

💧Chapter Twenty-Three💧

Gabriel grinned at Ivor, Ellegaard and Ash. Now was the time to relive the good days, with his love, "Race you all into the sea!" He laughed and got to his feet before running. Ash laughed and chased after him. Ellegaard grinned and did the same. Ivor rolled his eyes but ran after the other three. Harper watched on, looking amused, "I'm dating an idiot," She said to herself, casual and loving. Rosalyn was talking to Eliza and Adrian, the latter teasing her about the grey mark in her hair, "Let's hope that people don't assume yer age,"
Eliza grinned and tapped his elbow, "Alright you pirate!"
"Shut up, Eliza,"
Jesse was being daft and making Lukas laugh.

Gabriel watched the two from the corner of his eye. This turned out to be a fatal mistake as Ellegaard splashed water over him. He gave a gasp of surprising before yelling, "I'll get you for that!"

Ash laid on Gabriel's lap. His muscles were tense and, as she raised her head, she saw a worried expression on his normally calm and relaxed face. She sat up, "Anything you want to tell me?" She asked, gently. Gabriel sighed,
"If anything is to happen to me and I can't take care of Jesse, would you mind.... Well, what I mean to say is..... Would you be willing to take her on as an honorary daughter? I just... I just want to know that my baby girl would be in safe hands," He heard the quiet plea slip into his tone. A soft look came onto Ash's face,
"I'm sorry, Gabriel, but I can't do that,"
Gabriel opened his mouth to say something but closed it again. He and Ash had certainly had their fights and that was to be expected, no relationship was perfect, but they had been forgiven and forgotten within the space of half a minute. He also knew that if he pushed on about this, it would be a day or so if they argued about this. He closed his eyes with an inward sigh. He felt something fall onto his chest. Something wet. Ash was crying quietly. Gabriel's eyes widened with alarm and worry, "Angel, please don't cry! If you don't want to then-"
"That's not why I'm crying," Ash put her arms around Gabriel, "I just.... Don't say these things about yourself!"
Gabriel hadn't expected an outburst, from Ash especially. He bit back his tears as he pulled the woman he loved into a hug, allowing her tears to shower him, "D-Don't," He stuttered, "You'll get me started,"
A voice that sounded like Ash's, when Gabriel had first cried in front of her, said, It's perfectly okay for warriors to cry, Gabriel. Especially you.
Remembering this, Gabriel cried too, "I can't lose you, my love,"
"I can't lose you either, my warrior,"

The next day, Ash and Gabriel acted as though nothing had happened and Gabriel played a fair few loving games with Ash. He felt his heart skip a beat whenever Ash laughed. He would propose to her, one day. The group stayed at the beach for a few hours when Eliza said, "Will someone remind me why we slept on the beach when there's a perfectly good hotel there!" And she pointed at a white building, with a banner saying, Sea View Hotel. They all laughed.
It took a while for all of them to regain their breath. Ellegaard looked at the city behind them and they agreed that they would explore and get a few supplies and meet back in twenty minutes. Good, Gabriel thought, looking at Ash, This gives me time to get her a ring and something else for the time being.