Children of Fire (Complete)

sixty-two

Gideon

"Hey, baby. It's just me." I told Emerson once I had my arms wrapped around her middle. I tried not to laugh at how hard she was trying to pull the lever that led into the tunnel, but it was really funny to watch her jumping up and down like a crazy woman. She wheeled around in record speed, her eyes wide with fear. Part of me felt bad instantly, and the other part of me couldn't hold the laughter in anymore so I let out a chuckle.

"That's not fucking funny, Gideon! I thought you were coming to kill me!" She shrieked, slapping whatever piece of my body she could come in contact with. I had to admit, the blows weren't gentle and I was starting to feel the pain of her wrath, literally. "I thought I was going to die!"

"Em, I won't let you die. I need you too much." I admitted, holding her arms at her side and wrapping her up again in my embrace. Maybe it was the alcohol running through my veins, but all I wanted to do right now was get down on one knee and ask her to marry me. The timing wasn't right, no, but it couldn't have felt more right to me in this moment. I stared at her for a brief moment, her skin free of makeup and her hair tied up messily on top of her head, and I felt my eyes stinging with unshed tears. She was everything I had ever dreamed of, and I would spend the rest of my life proving to her that I was worthy of the love that she would give me.

"Gideon, are you okay?" She asked suddenly, reaching up and wiping a tear away. Damnit, I didn't want to spend what could be our last night together like this. I looked up at the ceiling and blinked them away quickly.

"Yeah, baby. I'm fine. Just thinking about how much I love you." I told her honestly, pressing a light kiss on top of her head (on the side of the huge bun, of course). She looked up at me and smiled, holding my face between her hands.

"I love you too, Gideon. Now come on, if this is gonna be our last night together, let's spend it in bed." She said with a devilish grin, dragging me into bed and shedding our clothes in a messy trail behind us.

---

Morning beamed in through the open curtains, which I thought was unusual, Emerson hated when the sun woke her up. She always said that it was like 'Satan was screaming silently into her ears until she woke up blinded by his evil child' or something along those lines, I don't know, she was always really dramatic about it. I turned over to face her and saw that she was staring at me already, a strange look on her face. "What's up?" I asked, brushing the stray hairs behind her ears.

"Nothing, I just know how much you like waking up with the sun and I figured I would make a compromise... just this one time." She smiled up at me, that strange look still plastered on her face.

"I appreciate that, Em. But, please, tell me what's really bothering you? Other than being up this early." I asked.

"It's just..." Her voice trailed off and she looked down, I could only assume she was twiddling her thumbs underneath the blanket. "I just don't want to think about the fact that you might not come home to me tonight. There's so many things we haven't done yet. We haven't gotten married, we haven't talked about kids, we haven't even had an anniversary yet. I want to grow old with you, Gideon and now that today's finally here... I'm afraid I won't get that chance..." She was sobbing into her hands now, and I wanted to break down and cry with her. She was right. We didn't have the chance to do any of those things, and the fact that she was also thinking about those things made my heart break inside of my chest. I hadn't realized that heartbreak like this was actually physically painful, and I scooped her up into my arms, doing my best to soothe her uncontrollable sobbing.

I ran my fingers through the unruly strands of hair that framed her face and 'shh'ed' her softly. "Baby, it's going to be okay. Nothing's going to happen to me, I promise. I'll be late getting home tonight, but I will be home. Even if this place is burnt to ashes, it won't matter. Because you are my home, Emerson. I will be wherever you are tonight, I swear it on my life." I told her, doing my best to convey my seriousness with my tone of voice. I wanted her to know that I would do everything in my power to ensure that I would be next to her every night for the rest of our lives together, and judging from the worries she was having, it would be forever.