The Everlasting

Twenty Eight

When Rose awoke, Eli was already gone. She didn't bother covering herself as she made her way to the en-suite.

She took a shower using Eli's soap and brushed her teeth using his brush, feeling slightly naughty for using his things, but at home.

She dared a glance in the mirror, and was surprised to see the same face staring back at her. Her face was flushed and her eyes bright, but she expected there to be a difference. She felt different, whole somehow, and the thought made her smile.

She found one of his t-shirts and slipped it on before making her way downstairs.

On the bar sat a plate with large, fluffy pancakes, a glass of orange juice next to it. But she didn't see any of it, because Eli stood in front of it, freshly showered, clothed, and smiling right back up at her.

Rose felt like she could fly.

When she was standing right in front of him, she said quietly, "Hi."

"Hi," he replied.

He gestured to her plate of food. She sat at the bar but couldn't keep her eyes away from him.

He smiled and she almost forgot everything.

"Is this even real?" she whispered.

"As real as you are. Now, eat."

Rose smiled but took a bite of her food. Swallowing, she thought aloud. "Now that I know the truth, what now?"

Eli's smile faded, and she regretted asking. "In the past, you've died soon after, but I knew from the beginning that this time would be different. I can feel it, Rose. Things are going to change."

"We'll have our normal."

"I almost forgot what that felt like," Eli laughed.

"Will you miss it? Meeting another me, I mean."

Eli paused, and Rose was afraid she had upset him, but then he said, "I will never miss watching you die."

"Why didn't you give up on me a long time ago?"

"You've never been in love, have you?"

Rose hated to think it, but he was right, she hadn't known love in this life, not even now. Though she couldn't deny that what she felt for him was more than just a mere infatuation, she knew she couldn't call it love.

Trying to divert the attention away from her, she asked, "How is it that you were able to love me in every life? I mean, I understand that I carry Cyra's soul, that I am she and she is me, but I'm sure I didn't always have all of her endearing qualities."

Eli smiled. "No, not all the time. Believe it or not, she wasn't perfect, and I wouldn't expect her to be. But in each life, there was something about you that made me fall in love all over again. That's why I can say with almost complete certainty, that I don't just love you because you were once Cyra."

"Am I anything like her, or, how I used to be?"

One side of Eli's mouth lifted, and Rose knew he was far away.

"In appearance, no, nothing. In character, you have her same persistence; you're stubborn. You're resilient, and that's beautiful to me. And much like her, you have a good heart."

Rose placed her fork down when he came around the bar and stood in front of her.

"And when you smile, my heart stutters, my palms begin to sweat, my mouth dries. I feel . . . human again."

Rose lifted her hand hesitantly. Eli captured it and placed it against his cheek.

She stood to press her lips against his and he pulled her against him, increasing her fervor.

He lifted her onto the counter and Rose used her feet to pull him closer.

Unlike the night before, Eli took his time. His mouth moved slowly over hers as he lifted her in his arms. Without breaking their connection, he moved them upstairs and into the room they shared the night before.

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Rose stroked Eli's face. His eyes fluttered closed under her touch.

"How can someone just come into your life and change everything?" Rose whispered.

"It makes absolutely no sense, does it?"

"Is this how you feel when you look at me?"

Eli caught her hand in his. "It's a shock to my system in every lifetime."

"Every lifetime," Rose repeated. The idea was still so new to her, still hard to comprehend. But this was her life now, a new life with Eli.

"Why'd you have to be so complicated? Why couldn't you have simply been in the witness protection program?"

They laughed together, and Eli kissed her finger tips. "Nothing is ever as simple as we want it to be."

Rose thought of his words as his phone rang in his pants pocket. He groaned but reached below to answer it.

"Hello?"