Operation: One percent

Chapter 51

Margaret

„Do you think that there is hope for people like us Ace?"

He was washing his hands in the river, and he pushed his fingers with his wet palm through his hair tussling it in the process.

„I would like to respond yes, but I don't know in what way you really mean?"

„Hope in living a normal life, no bloodshed, no running for our lives. Ahh, I long for boredom, I haven't felt it in a while."

We were both barefoot now, as we decided to cool off by the stream, and sat next to me, not really looking at me.

„I think that you need to choose to have hope, because if you truly don't believe that you can do such a thing then you never will. But if you decide to have hope, then you will work towards that, and eventually, possibly reach it."

„What if I am incapable of choosing to have hope?"

„Then I will be the one hoping for you."

I squeezed his hands tighter.

„I know you asked me to trust you, but trust was something I couldn't afford. And I don't know why are you believing in me, almost blindly, but I just want to say, I really appreciate you."

I couldn't really tell what he felt or what he thought while he was listening to me speak, but firm eye contact made me swell with a familiar feeling.

„I really like having you close to me, and I don't know...I suppose I was frightened to lose you, but more importantly, I was afraid of you losing yourself."

My chest started to swell up, and then Ace spoke.

"You will not lose me. I am yours because believe it or not, I despised being touched before I met you, only to wrestle with myself to not be all over you constantly. You have changed so much about me Margaret, or perhaps, you have drawn out a part of me I didn't know existed. So, I haven't lost myself, but I have rejected and replaced a part of me, making me whole. "

He pressed his forehead against mine and sighed. 

"You make me whole."

He gave me a tender kiss, as I trailed my finger over the edges of his jawline. I was afraid to build a home within him, but for the same reason I have fallen in love with him, I have already laid out the foundations.

 However, there was something I never told him. A secret that I was willing to bring to my grave.

"I need to tell you something Ace...."

In the blink of an eye, the sky shifted from daytime to nighttime. 

"Sheesh, this is how they do it?" I asked. 

"Yeah I guess, there is no foreplay that is the sunset."

I laughed wholeheartedly at him, elbowing him softly.

"Sorry, you wanted to say something?" 

Thinking better of it, I waived it off and continued to kiss him.