Abridged Ties (Gilbert x OC)

Arvan Zurgaa

Gilbert was silent as he and Noelle returned to his apartment. The two were usually quiet, but this silence was particularly unsettling.  Yet when they returned, the girl was eager to look into the old notebooks.  She picked up one of the five that were left on the small coffee table, but hesitated to open it.

"Hey, Gilbert?" She called out to the distant young man.  "Do you want to take a look at the journals?"

He ran a strong hand through his dark curls insecurely and turned to face the confused girl.  He took a step towards her, cornering her against the wall and placing his hands on either side of her.

"I need some sort of answer, Noelle." He explained in a harsh, low voice.

"What do you mean?"

"I kissed you."  He clenched his jaw.  "Twice."

Noelle averted her violet gaze shyly.

"And I got nothing from you.  No acknowledgment what-so-ever." He tilted his head, almost begging for the girl to look at him.  "What's going through your head about this? Are you disgus-"

Her eyebrows furrowed angrily as she interrupted him.  "Of course not!" She yelled.

"Then what?!  Please, I need to know something!" Gilbert's previously confident words became choked.  His pain was obvious in his golden eyes as he looked into the girl's uncertain watery orbs.

"I don't know!" Her shoulders sagged.  "I'm confused and -"

"I know you're confused and lost, and you're even scared about the unknown!" He interrupted.  "But we've lived in this apartment together for several weeks, and I've known you for over a century." He smiled, but it wasn't filled with happiness.  It was a sad smile, accompanied with tears.  "I can't take this... uncertainty..."

Noelle was hurt by his statement.  "'Uncertainty?!" She repeated.  "You may have known me for over a century, but I remember absolutely nothing! How in the hell am I supposed to be certain about something when I'm so confused about everything else?!"  Her expression softened, but the pain was still clearly plastered to her face.  "If you can't stand this one thing, then I'd love to see you live a day in my shoes.  Not the Noelle who lived through some mysterious past, but the Nanalie who doesn't remember a single thing about that past and has no choice but to be uncertain about everything."

"I know that.  I know more about you as a person than what you know about yourself.  I didn't ask for you to live this 'uncertain' life.  I didn't ask for you to go through all of this.  But I am the one who has been by your side, the one certain thing that's been around for... as long as your memory serves.  For the one thing that's been 'certain' in your life, I deserve for you to be 'certain' about it."

"Gilbert, this is unfair." The trapped girl said as tears fell from her pained violet eyes.  "I can't even be certain about myself... how am I supposed to be certain about someone else?"

"You're saying that you 'have no choice' and that you 'can't be certain.'" Gilbert repeated with an irritable sigh.  "It's just that you're too scared to be certain about anything! It's okay that you don't remember anything about your past, and it's okay to be uncertain about that.  But what's not okay is for you to be uncertain about everything else because we're talking about right here, right now."

"This has nothing to do with what happened in your unknown past.  This has everything to do with the Noelle right in front of me.  The Noelle that may not remember a single piece of her mysterious past, but the same Noelle who's kind-hearted, smart, considerate, compassionate, and beautiful.  The Noelle who can laugh and smile even though she has amnesia.  The Noelle who, despite her fears, wants to continue to look into her past."

"The Noelle that owns my heart.  The same girl that I fell, and am still falling, completely in love with."

Gilbert lowered his hands after he finished his speech.  His sad golden gaze focused anywhere but on the sobbing girl in front of him.  Noelle sunk to the floor, collapsing in her own pool of tears.  Meanwhile, the tall man tried to persuade himself not to pity her and that he had done nothing wrong to make her cry.  He used every ounce of his efforts to keep himself from kneeling beside her, hugging her, and whispering 'I'm sorry.'

Instead, he demanded an answer.  "Noelle, I need closure."

When Noelle hesitated, he turned to leave and shut himself inside of the bedroom.  Yet he paused abruptly as he heard a few tear-filled words come from her mouth.

"I'm scared." She mumbled.  "What if... what if whe-" She began worriedly.

"There are no 'what ifs.'"  Gilbert interrupted.  "I love you. That's it.  I would do anything for you.  I love the girl from over a century ago in the Baskerville mansion, and I love the girl right here, crying on the floor.  I already killed a man for you, and I would do it again in a heartbeat, because I love you."

He released a deep sigh, a single tear sliding down his cheek when he looked into Noelle's tearful violet eyes.  "I have and always will love you, forever.  Absolutely nothing will change that, even if you don't love me."

Noelle erupted into another fit of sobbing.  Finally, Gilbert turned and began to cross the room.  The girl unsteadily rose to her feet, using the wall to support her fragile self. 

 "Gilbert..." She said cautiously.  He paused, and when he turned, she placed her lips on his.

She could feel a burdensome wave lift from his shoulders as he slowly wrapped his arms around the girl.  Hot tears lined each of their faces, but each kiss was more passionate than the previous.

Gilbert released her mouth, resting his forehead on hers and laughing while he continued to cry.  "Why are you still crying?" Noelle asked quietly, wiping the few remaining tears from her eyes.

"Because I love you." He explained again.  "I really, really love you."

She smiled sweetly, planting a light kiss just below his golden eye where a droplet of water threatened to slip down his face.  "But it's okay now, right?"

He nodded, resting his head on her petite shoulder exhaustedly.

"Thank you, Noelle." Gilbert whispered to her as she giggled.

Noelle smiled widely as she stroked the man's tousled curls.  "I should be the one thanking you.  You freed me from my insecurities and uncertainties.  At least now, I can be entirely certain about something."

Gilbert lifted his head, raising her small chin with a strong finger.  "And what is that?"

"I love you, Gilbert." The girl said with a bright smile.  "I'm certain about that."

He effortlessly lifted her curvaceous body from the floor by her waist.  She rested her legs around his hips and cupped his cheek.  She kissed him repeatedly, and he did the same.

Finally, they had stopped crying.  And to some witnessing this relationship in the future, it may be annoying or ridiculous.  But they could care less of how others see them.  They could only be certain that they loved each other.