Cold Devotion | ✔️

Chapter Fifty

-Afterlife-

The setting sun's golden rays glowed against his soft skin. He's beyond beautiful. I reach my hand out and graze my fingers against his jaw, his head laying on my lap.

"Why are you here?" I ask and those green eyes, that I have missed so much, meet mine.

His eyes alone spoke a million words. Those goddamn eyes. I had been hooked ever since I first saw them.

"I couldn't live without you, my love," Colton says gently and the time I spent parted from him seems to be worth it in this moment.

I have him back.

I smiled down at his face as I traced his cheekbones. Being parted from him for so long has been one of the hardest things I have ever had to endure. I never wanted to leave him, but I didn't have the choice.

"I watched over you, I was always by your side," I say and can't help the tears that well in my eyes. I had watched him destroy himself, constantly blame himself for my death. It was never his fault.

"I missed you... so much," he whispers and a tear slides down my cheek.

He props himself up on his elbows and moves to wipe away the tear with the pad of his thumb before closing the gap between our lips.

I savour the feeling of his lips on mine. It feels like an eternity since I last experienced this feeling, since I last felt the love I have for him coursing through my veins.

His lips lingered for a while until he drew back.

"The sunset is beautiful isn't it, my love," he whispers as he rests his head on my lap again and laces his fingers through mine. I trace patterns onto the back of his hand, relishing in the skin on skin contact.

"Very... I want to spend the rest of my sunsets with you," I whisper back and his smile grows even more. That charming smile. "You were right, I would never leave you," I say softly and his eyebrows furrow.

"You heard that?" he questions and I nod. I tried so hard to reach out to him, to let him know that I wasn't completely gone, that I could see him through our realities but I could never get through to him.

"I never left your side," I say and he presses another kiss to my lips. "You once told me that once everything was over, we'd go to wherever my heart was content," I explain.

"Yeah I remember," Colton says softly and tucks a loose strand of my hair behind my ear.

"And I told you that as long as you were with me, I didn't care where I was. Well... this seems to be it," I say and he chuckles lightly.

"All we have is forever now," he says and I nod.

Forever. I'll be by his side... forever.

***

A/N and that's it. That is Cold Devotion. I hope you can forgive me, I cried uncontrollably writing these last few chapters but I thought they were beautiful and fitting for their tragic love story. The love I have received is astounding and I cannot thank you all enough for the endless support. I am at a loss for words... I cannot believe Cold Devotion has now come to an end. This story will always have a special place in my heart and I will always love Colton and Rose. I hope you have fallen in love with the characters as much as I have. Again, thank you all so much - I don't think I will ever be able to express my gratitude. You all mean so much to me.

- Ruby