(Well....we made it guys. I apologize if it seemed like I was skipping around events bc I was, lol. I was trying to keep the chapter as short as possible, but yeah that ain't work lol. It's a VERY long one, so brace yourselves! Enjoy!)
Darkness was all I saw, and sharp pains that erupted from different parts of my arm was all I felt. I forced myself to wake up, and when I came to, I saw Simon leaning over me, keeping my head steady. He must've noticed that I was awake, as I saw his eyes go wide, before returning to their usual sunken state. "Take it easy doll, you're gonna make it. You have to." He whispered, brushing away a stray strand of hair that had fallen onto my face. "Is she awake?" I heard someone else call from behind me. "Yeah." Simon mumbled, keeping his attention solely on me.
'So I made it...? This isn't a dream right...?' I asked myself. I couldn't exactly tell where we were as my view was obscured by Simon's massive body. However, judging by the unsteadiness of the floor, I guessed we were back in the plane now. Taking a slow, deep breath, I looked up at Simon, who was looking down at me, gave him a nod, and let my persistent fatigue take over me.
~
I don't know how long I slept for. Days, maybe even weeks had passed, before I found myself cracking open my eyes once again. However, this time, instead of being hit with the usual darkness I was accustomed to, bright lights shone down on my face, immediately making me want to shut my eyes for good. But despite this, I pushed through, and worked one eye open at a time. It wasn't long before I heard someone yell, "She's awake! Patient 0924 is awake!" A lady screamed. Her voice was very high pitched, and so I understandably winced at the sound of her screaming.
Seconds later, a whole bunch of people were by my bedside, asking me questions. I couldn't tell who was who, because my darn eyes just wouldn't focus, but I did know that none of the voices I heard sounded familiar to me. All of the chatter abruptly stopped, when a very deep voiced man called everyone out of the room. I listened as the group of people left, and to the sound of the door shutting behind them. However, one person hadn't left, and I listened as they dragged a chair from out of the far corner somewhere, over to my bedside, before plopping down.
"Belladonna Freeman, yes?" The man asked, his accent being that of a pure American. "Yes." I weakly answered. Upon hearing my own voice, my hand flew up to massage my throat. 'Why the hell do I sound like absolute shit...?' I asked myself. "You have a dry throat right now. It's common for those who have been in a coma for some time." The man nonchalantly said, clicking his pen as if he was going to write something. 'Wait...did he say a coma?' I asked myself yet again. "A coma? I've been in a coma?" I grunted out. "Yes, you have. For a week, to be exact." He said, and my mouth fell open. "Yup. You need fluids. Drink this." He said, grabbing my hand, and placing a cup in it.
I cautiously raised it to my mouth, and felt as my throat was finally relieved of its dryness. "Thank you." I said, finishing the Gatorade, and crushing the cup in between my fingers. "No problem. If you don't mind, I'm going to ask some questions on your current condition." He said, and I heard as he clicked his pen again. I nodded, and waited for him to start. "How are you feeling right now, any pain, soreness?" He asked.
"No." I mumbled.
"Can you see?" He asked.
"Not really. Everything is really blurry right now." I said.
"Ok, that's understandable. You haven't seen artificial light in a while. Besides your eyes, how are your other senses?" He asked.
"I can smell, but it's like my hearing has been improved. I can hear almost everything now." I said, chuckling at my discovery.
However the doctor didn't have the same reaction as me. "Oh no. No, no, no that can't be right." He said, abruptly standing up from his chair. "I'm going to shine some light in your eyes, tell me if it's painful." He said. I nodded, and patiently waited. "3...2...1 Testing." He said, before shining a small light in both my eyes. At first it didn't bother me, but when he kept switching the direction of the light, a blinding pain swept through my head, and I let out a bellowing cry of pure agony. "I'm sorry about that." He said, patting me on my shoulder, before I heard him sit down with a heavy sigh.
"So, my theory is that you're...temporarily blind....in both eyes. But I could be wrong, as a lot of patients show signs of weak vision after being in a coma for so long. I'm going to run some tests just to make sure, but before I go, would you like me to disclose your injuries?" He asked, and I thought for a moment, before ultimately saying yes. "Okay...patient diagnosis..." he grumbled, flipping through some stack of paper. "Alright, you were short a total of 4 times. 2 of the bullets went straight through your arm, however 2 of them...didn't. They were specifically altered to erupt upon entering the body, and in doing so, it severed a lot of crucial veins in your arm. We were able to salvage it by taking skin graphs from your thighs, and belly, while also repairing your damaged bone with a titanium one. It was the best we could do to save your arm, without amputating it, but I know it won't be the same for you." He said.
"Plus some minor facial scratches from shrapnel." He added, and I sat there taking in all of the new information. None of this really came as a shock to me in the slightest, as I had I already known I'd been shot quite a few times. However, the altered bullet part did come as a surprise. I thanked the doctor for his time, and listened as he made his way out the door. I was left alone, and for some time I thought about nothing, that was until I remembered I had no phone. No phone, meaning that I couldn't text König. 'How long had it been since I last talked to him...? He must be really worried.' I told myself. Groaning, I rested my head against the raised bed, and tried my best to drift back off to sleep.
-
Hours passed, and I found myself still awake, just staring up at my ceiling. I was about to try and look out the window, but the sound of the room door being creaked open, caught my attention. I sat up, and tried widening my eyes to get them to focus, but to no avail. Instead, I just listened to whoever is was, close the door back, and bring some cart along with them. "Vision still blurry?" The man asked. I recognized his voice from earlier, and I nodded. "Alright, we gotta get that checked out. The good news is that, you can be outta here once we fix this eye problem. You don't need physical therapy for your arm, because the metal bone isn't connected to any attached joints." He added, and I listened as he pushed the cart right up to my bed, before beginning to unravel some cords.
"Okay.....this might hurt, but I just need one good look into each eye." He said, placing what felt like really heavy goggles onto my face. I nodded, and did my best to prepare myself for yet another test. "Alright....shining light in 3-2-1." The man said, before I heard him flick some switch, before immediately flicking it back off. "That's odd...what the hell is this? Alright we're gonna try again, I need a clearer picture." He said, repositioning the device over my eyes. This time he didn't bother to count, and when he flicked the switch on for the light, he left it on much longer than he did the first time. Much like before, I felt as a blinding pain began creeping its way up from the very back of my head.
I tried to keep still, as I didn't want the man to have to do this eye over again, but the pain was too much, and I snatched my head away from the device. I shoved the palms of my hands into my eye sockets to try, and relieve the pain, as it hurt like hell.
I heard the doctor sigh, before he began running his hand up and down my back to try, and soothe me. "I'm sorry about that, I'll work with the picture I have, so there's no need for another one. He said, before I heard him put the device back onto to his cart, and wheel it out of the room. Once again, I was left all alone, but this time in pain.
-
A few more days went by, before I was finally released from the hospital. Turns out, the issue with my eyes was a permanent one, but I was still prescribed some eye drops to help with the blurriness. Extreme sensitivity to light, was my new problem. Sighing, I began to feel sorry for myself. I was nearly blind in the daylight, I had my arm in a sling, and had a cut up face. In all honesty, looked pitiful. Deciding that I had felt sorry for myself enough, I made my way back to headquarters, which actually wasn't far. I was admitted into a hospital that was on base, so I found that quite nice. However the minute those automatic doors flew open, I was met with complete silence. The place was beyond empty, it was barren. Confused, I cautiously made my way through the desolate lobby, and went across the hall to Laswell's office.
I did my usual, which was knock three times, before letting myself in. As soon as I stepped foot into her office, I saw as she shot up from her chair, and looked at me with a shocked look on her face. Even more confused, I shut the door behind me, and I whispered a lousy 'good afternoon' to her. "Belle?" She said, and she rushed around her desk to pull me into a tight, loving hug. "Hey capt." I said, leaning into her. "Oh my goodness, thank god you're alright. Your injuries-" She started, before she stopped herself.
"I'm alright now. Where is everyone?" I asked, and Laswell's eyes averted from mine. "Well, everyone is currently out performing a search a rescue for the hostages that are still alive. We've been lucky with no casualties as of yet." She said, releasing me, and trudging back over to her desk. "And what about 141? Did everyone else make it out okay?" I asked. Laswell didn't respond for a good minute, before I heard her sigh, and lean over her desk to get something. She clutched the item in her hand, before stepping back over to me. "No, not everyone made it out." She said, and I felt my heart sink. "Soap Mctavish was killed in the line of duty. He said he wanted you to have this." Laswell said, handing me both of his dog-tags. My eyes went wide, and all I could do was stare down at her open hand that held the metal necklace.
"How did- how did he..." I tried to ask, but I found it nearly impossible to complete my sentences. Laswell understood me somehow, and she began to explain. "The sniper that shot down the man who was about to finish you off, was Simon, and when he told Soap that you were down there laying motionless, Soap charged in believing that he could get all three of you out of there. He did, but he couldn't save himself. Simon ran out to try, and retrieve his body, but to no avail. He was almost gunned down as well. He's currently being held in the same hospital you just came from, and I'm told he's still in critical condition." She whispered.
Upon hearing this, I broke out into a full blown sob. 'Simon, too?' I asked myself. "What about Gaz? And- and Price?" I choked out in between my sobs. Laswell crossed her arms, and shook her head. "Both...had to be admitted into therapy. Soap's death really affected Gaz, and he hasn't been the same ever since." She finished. I never thought I'd cry as hard I did when she told me the news of everyone else's fate. Laswell was there to support me, and tell me that it wasn't my fault, but I couldn't help but feel like it was. 'If only I hadn't been so sleep deprived, and would've been more smart about my actions, then none of this would've happened. This all happened because of me. It's all my fault.' Was all I kept telling myself, and it only led me to cry even harder.
-
Eventually I forced myself to stop, and me and Laswell sat down to have a formal talk about what I was to do next. "Belle, you've been through so much, honey. If you want to leave, you can. I can give you an immediate honorary discharge, but as of right now, if you were to stay, then you'd be admitted into six months of mandatory therapy. No one is holding you here, so for my sake, and your own, please stand down."
"But-" I started, before she cut me off. "I will tell the others of your departure, and they will all understand. No one will call you a chicken for leaving, and I will make sure of that. You have a life to live, and man at home who cares about you deeply. You don't want to ruin your chance of losing both, now do you?" She asked.
I shook my head head no, and listened as she sighed. "I know how you feel right about now. You don't want to let your team down, and I understand, but your health comes first." She smiled, squeezing one of my hands underneath her own. "I can have your discharge finalized by tonight, so focus on getting some rest for right now. Okay?" She said, giving me a reassuring nod, before letting go of my hand, and turning her attention back over to her computer. Taking this as my cue to leave, I slowly pulled myself up, and out of the chair, before making my way over to her door. "Belle?" I heard her call from behind me.
I spun around to face her, and watched as she tore her eyes from her computer screen. "I'm sorry, I almost forgot to give you your stuff." She said, reaching underneath her desk, before pulling out my bag. She stood up from her chair, and walked around her desk to give it to me. I thanked her, and was about to leave, before she pulled me into yet another tight hug. "Everything is going to be alright, okay?" She said, and I felt as fresh tears began to well up in my eyes. I hugged her back, and gave her a quick nod. She let go, and I took the chance to let myself out of her office.
I didn't want her to see me crying anymore, and so I booked it back to my dorm. Much like the lobby, the dorms were dead silent. No sounds of other lieutenants arguing about random things, nor anyone standing around in the hall's gossiping. I took the long way back to my room, as I didn't want to have to go through the uncomfortable feeling of passing by Simon's door. Just the thought of doing it was making me feel sick to my stomach. 'We had just gotten on good terms, too.' I thought to myself.
When I got to my door, I took in a deep breath, before letting myself in. It felt nice to be in a familiar setting once again, and I wasted no time in locking the door behind me. I hauled my bag into my bedroom, dropping it by the doorframe. I threw myself onto my bed, and fought back tears. By now, the pain meds that I had taken earlier had worn off, and my arm was throbbing under the pressure I was putting on it. Even my eyes were starting to hurt, but I couldn't care less. Even though all I did for the past week and a half was sleep, I still felt so tired. Sighing, I tried to drift off to sleep, but was interrupted when my phone went off.
Confused, I sat myself up, and peered over the edge of my bed to look at my bag. Then I heard it again. I groaned, and got back up to get my phone from out of my bag. It took some time for me to find it, as everything in there was in literal disarray. 900 shirts later, I finally found it, and saw that it was Laswell. I gulped, and cleared my throat, before answering. "Hello?" I said into the phone. "Hey sweetie, just letting you know that I put in a request for your discharge. It should be finalized by tonight, so be ready. I'll be driving you to the airport." She said, and I mumbled a low 'mhm'. "Alright, I'll see you in a bit. Try and get some sleep if you can. Bye." She said, before hanging up.
I sighed yet again, before letting my hand that held my phone, fall down into my lap. Don't get me wrong here, I was happy to be able to go home, but....I couldn't go back looking like this. 'How was I going to tell König that I almost died, again? All it would do is hurt him to see me like this.' I told myself. Since I was already thinking about him, I guessed it wouldn't be too bad to tell him that I was coming back home for good. I clicked back on my phone to see that it was on 5%, along with over 100 missed calls, and texts from him. As much as I didn't want to, I opened his texts and began to read them.
They were mostly 'goodmorning' and 'goodnight' texts, with the exception of him freaking out over my disappearance. The last text he sent was two days ago, and he basically said that 'he was sorry if he did anything wrong, and to call whenever I wanted. He still loved me....no matter what.' I pinched my eyes shut to stop yet another set of oncoming tears. I even tried typing a response, literally anything, but everything I wrote just seemed pathetic. Eventually,
I gave up, and chose not to say anything at all. I clicked my phone off, and cuffed my face in my hands. 'I couldn't do it. I couldn't sit there, and tell him everything, and possibly ruin his day. He doesn't deserve that, I'll be fine on my own.' I said to myself.
Believing that lie, I pulled myself up to my feet, put on some comfy slides, and headed back out. The hallway was still pin-drop silent, apart from the sounds of me shoving my key in the door, and locking it. I needed to swing by my office before I left, as I had some important files just laying out everywhere, and even though I was leaving, I still found that it was respectful to at least tidy up the place. And so, as bad as I was feeling at the moment, I pushed through my discomfort, and made my way out of the eerie-like dorms. As soon as I made it outside, I thought the atmosphere would've changed at least a little bit, but it hadn't. The base truly was empty.
I made my way over to headquarters once again, and took my usual route up to my office, not bothering to check, and see if anyone had shown up during the short time that I'd had left. Using the elevator again gave me very vivid visions of deja vu, and I really did my best to choke back my tears. I was going to miss this place with all my heart. The elevator making its signature 'ding' sound as its doors flew open, woke me up from my trance, and I stepped out into yet another desolate hallway. I kept my gaze aimed at the floor as I trudged up to my door. Upon reaching it, I glanced around me to check my surroundings, before unlocking it, and letting myself in.
It was just how I had left it, papers were scattered everywhere, and files were left open on almost every surface. Sighing, I shut my door, making sure to lock it behind me. After looking over the pile of shit I had to put away, I sat myself down in my chair, and before I got to work organizing my files, both the physical ones, and the digital ones, I set a timer on my phone to make sure that I didn't go overboard. In doing so, I worked up the courage to send König a text, apologizing for not getting back to him sooner, and asking him about his day. When I finished, I cautiously hit the send button, and threw my phone somewhere. I regretted doing that upon hearing the impact it made when it hit a wall. Sighing, I told myself to focus, and I got to work.
-
It took some time just like anything else, and I before I knew it, I had dozed off. However, the sound of my alarm going off at full volume was enough to get me to wake up, and I nearly threw myself out of my chair. Sighing, I rubbed my sore eyes, and looked over at the side of my desk I had managed to clear off. 'At least it's something.' I said to myself, as I stood up to stretch. I groaned a bit, before walking over to where I had previously thrown my phone, and picked it up. I shut off the alarm, and glanced at the time. 8:59 pm, my phone read. I huffed breath, and unlocked it, only to see that there were no new notifications from anyone. My heart sunk a bit, but I made sure to keep my composure.
'He's probably busy...' I thought to myself, as I clicked my phone back off, and tucked it away into my pant pocket. Trudging back over to my desk, I leaned forward, and shut off my computer. I collected the folders that I had organized, and placed them onto one side of my desk. I grabbed the rest of my belongings, and made sure I had everything, before hustling back out of my office. I stood there for a while, and took in the layout of the 2nd floor, as I knew I wouldn't ever be coming back. I left my keys in the door, before ultimately heading back to the elevator. I pressed the down arrow, and watched as the doors immediately flew open. Grateful that it didn't take as long as it usually did, I stepped in, and bumped the number 1 with my elbow. The doors quickly closed behind me, and I stood in silence as the elevator began its slow descent.
The elevator made its signature 'ding' sound when it arrived at ground level, and I carefully made my way out of it. Almost as if I had timed it, I bumped into Laswell. She offered to help me pack, and I agreed. On the way back to my dorm, I couldn't help but think that everything felt like it was happening so fast, and to be honest....I wasn't wrong.
-
As soon as I was fully packed, Laswell helped me load my stuff into the back of her truck, and we headed off to the airport. Traffic was horrible, and it didn't really help that we we coming from a secluded base. And so the minute we got to the airport, we had to rush to catch my flight, as it was running ahead of its usual schedule. We made it just in time before the boarding gates closed, and I found that it was really hard saying goodbye to Laswell in such rushed conditions, however we made do with what little time we had to converse, and she gave me Soap's dog tags that I had left behind. I put them in my pocket, and was told that I had to board right then, and there, before I got left. I gave her one last hug, and as I boarded my flight, it took everything in me to keep myself from breaking down crying.
I was given a joint flight, and they were very long ones, with each one being 8 hours or more. So, when my last flight landed, I was more than happy to be the first off of that plane. I collected my luggage from baggage claim, before making my way over to enterprise, to pay for a rental car. That in, and of itself had me exhausted, as again I didn't sleep on either of my flights. The sound of a lady calling my name broke me out of my trance, and I stood up with my luggage, before heading over to the clerk's counter. "Ms. Freeman?" She asked, and I nodded. "Thank you for your patience, here are your keys, and you can drop the car off at the next location. You have a total of 1,000 miles, and you can also renew it at any given time." She said, and I made sure to thank her, before taking the keys from her. I exited the airport, and walked out into the car lot, clicking the sound button for the cars alarm. It was a noisy thing to do, but at the same time, it was the most efficient.
I found the car in a matter of minutes, and I wasted no time in popping the truck just to throw my things inside. The trunk closed by itself, and I flung myself into the driver's seat. I stuck the key into the ignition, and pressed the brakes to start the car fully, but not before pausing to get a good look at the interior. I had to admit, it was a pretty nice selection. The car itself was an almost all electric Mercedes, one of the newer models, too. Sighing, I put the car in reverse, and drove out of the car lot. Not even ten minutes into my drive, I began thinking about my dad's old Miata that he'd given me as a birthday gift. I missed driving it around, and this car really reminded me of it. Lost in such thought, I began to notice that I was running into less, and less stoplights, meaning that I was heading more, and more into the countryside.
I didn't really care, as all I wanted to do was just drive until I couldn't anymore. I had so many emotions just floating around in my head, but I just couldn't figure out how to release them, let alone recognize them. I turned onto a gravel road, and still continued driving, and it was only when I pulled into what looked like, a house's driveway did I think to maybe stop. Confused, I squinted my eyes and tried to get a good look at house. 'How the hell-' I started to ask myself, before something told me to check it's address. I did just that, and soon realized that this wasn't just any random house....this was Nick's house. Upon seeing the matched address, I tossed my phone into the passenger seat, and leaned forward onto the steering wheel.
I let out a frustrated sigh, as I'd come to the conclusion that I had driven here out of pure habit. Even though I had only been here a couple of times, I didn't know the route by heart. I tapped my forehead on the wheel a couple of times, before sitting up, and putting my car in reverse. That was, until I looked forward, and saw him walk out the front door. I completely froze, and stared out the windshield like a total idiot. It didn't take long for him to spot me either, as I was kinda blocking the entire driveway. He stared in my direction for what felt like eternity, before I saw his face light up with the most amount of joy I'd ever seen in a man. He waved at me, and I waved back. Sighing, I knew I had no way out of this, and so I put the car back in park, and let myself out.
I didn't even know what I was going to say, but I knew I had to apologize first. When he got near enough, I turned to face his direction. Keeping a saccharine smile plastered onto my face, he stopped in front of me holding two buckets. He dropped them by his feet, before wiping his hands on his pants. "Hey." He said, with a smile so wide. "Hey...." I said back. "I...would hug you, but my hands are pretty dirty." He chuckled, and I nodded in acknowledgement. "It's okay, um I'm sorry for not answering any of your calls, or texts. I look horrible right now, and I just-" I started, before feeling warm tears begin to run down my cheeks. I quickly wiped them away with the back of my arm, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw as his smiled dropped.
I kept my gaze aimed at the floor. "I understand if you're pretty mad right now, but I-" I said, before getting pulled into one of the warmest hugs I'd ever felt. "What do you mean? No, never. I will never be upset with you. And you dont look horrible, you're as beautiful as always." He said, pressing a kiss ontop of my head. Usually his sweet, and kind words always served to calm me down, but not this time. Gathering up as much strength as I could, I pushed him away. "Why are you lying to me, Nicolas?" I asked, biting down on my lip to suppress a breakdown. "What?" He asked. "Do you find it funny to just lie to my face, and feed me all of these bottomless compliments?"
"Huh? What are you talking about-" He started, before I cut him off.
"Just agree with me, for once, that I'm not this perfect, angelic person. I'm far from it, and you know it. I'm a failure, nothing more, nothing less." I said, as more tears began falling down my face. I didn't even know why I was saying all of this, but a part of me knew why. This was me letting loose all of the emotions I had been bottling up ever since I left Laswell's office. The whole time I had been trying my best not to cry, and just try to forget about everything, but I couldn't. I didn't even bother to look up either, as I had been too scared to look at him in his eyes. I knew just how much I was hurting him, but I just couldn't stop.
"What makes you say these things?" He asked, and when I didn't respond, he continued. "You know what I see right in front me? A strong woman whose been through the motions, and whom is still standing. My strong woman, that's what I see." He said, inching closer. "Stop it, please just stop. I'm so sorry, I don't deserve any of this. I don't deserve you I-" I started to ramble, before he cut me off. "Do you really think I just talk for my health? You think I say things I don't mean? When have you ever caught me lying to someone, or you, without good a cause? Go on, tell me. I wanna hear it." He said, crossing his arms, and stopping dead in his tracks. He sounded like he was getting aggravated, and to be honest I couldn't blame him. I'd ghosted him for over two weeks, and I show up out of nowhere in his driveway, trying to tell him that I'm not what he thinks I am.
"I don't know...I don't know-" I cried out, shoving my face into my hands. "You don't know..? Wow, okay. Then why are you pushing me away?" He asked, the affection leaking its way back into his voice, softening it. "Can you tell me why?" He whispered, his voice sounding even softer. I got myself together a little bit, to be able to respond to him. "I'm protecting you. If- if you aren't around me, then maybe you won't get hurt, too." I said, wiping my tears with the back of my un-hurt arm. "What? Protect me? There's no need for that my love-" He started, before I cut him off. "Yes there is! Don't you get it? I ruin shit wherever I go. Soap is dead because of me, Ghost is in critical condition because of me, and Gaz had to be admitted into therapy. All. Because. Of. Me. I'm just a mistake-" I screamed at him.
He took in a labored breath, before speaking. "Never call yourself that. You can't just place the blame solely on yourself either. You're a human being, and we all make mistakes, but that doesn't mean you are one. But, if you are just insistent on believing that you're a mistake, then so be it. Have it your way, but you will always be my mistake, my gorgeous, gorgeous mistake." He cooed. By this point, everything that I had been holding in just came rushing out. I was so overwhelmed with grief, and this indescribable amount of guilt, that I was beyond hysterical. I heard him sigh, "Maybe you don't see what I see, but that's okay. I'll make sure you do someday." He said, closing the distance between us, and pulling me in by my waist. He engulfed me in his arms, and as I cried, I felt as raindrops began to fall onto me, and around me.
I had completely forgotten about how bad the weather looked, and before I knew it, we were standing out in the pouring rain as I continued to cry my eyes out. Not once did he bug me to go inside, and instead chose to just let me cry until I couldn't cry anymore. "I wonder what will it take for you to realize just how much you mean to me." I heard him mumble. "You are the very reason I am still alive right now, and I wish you'd see just how much I love you. I don't care what the doctors, or therapists say about me, and my disorders. What I feel for you is very much real, and I will follow you to the ends of the Earth, just to be with you. I will move mountains just for you. I don't care what I have to do, I will do it. So please, please just let me take care of you. I'll make sure you're well looked after, where you won't have to work another day in your life. We can start a family, get a dog or a cat, whatever you want. Just please....please let me love, and take of you. It's all I ask." He said, clutching me tighter, and kissing the top of my head.
"Can you let me do that?" He asked, and I nodded in agreement. "Thank you, beautiful. I love you with all my heart." He said, before falling silent once again. The sound of the rain pouring down around us completely masked the sounds of my cries, and as I began to calm down, I noticed just how hard it was coming down. I didn't feel it much, and I realized that Nick was using his body to shield me from most of the downpour. Tugging at his sleeve, he immediately let me go, just a little bit so that he could see my face. "Are you ready to go inside?" He asked, and I nodded. Almost immediately, he unraveled his arms from around my waist, and took my hand. We ran all the way over to the house, and up steps of the porch.
He wasted no time in pulling me back by my waist to place a soft kiss on my lips. "I love you." He said, before kissing me again, and again, until I placed a cupped hand on his mouth. "I love you too, Nick." I said, smiling for what felt like the first time since I'd arrived here. Like always, my smile was contagious, and I watched as his signature smile lines formed around his eyes. He kissed the inside of my hand, and I let out a tiny laugh at the tickling feeling. "I need to get my keys, so we can go back to my place." He said, releasing me, and trotting over to the door. I watched he peeked his head inside, and reached his arm through the crack in the door to unhook something.
I heard the sound of keys jingling, and before he got a chance to close the door, an older woman's voice rung out.
He sighed dramatically, before poking his head back inside, and yelling something in German to the woman. I felt an immediate rush of embarrassment as I realized that I'd done all of this in front of his mom's house. 'Fuck....' I said to myself, and I cupped my face in my hands. "Cmon, let's go." He said, slamming the door shut, and brushing past me in a hurry. Snapping out of my self-pity session, I quickly followed behind him, and waited for him to open his truck door for me. I jumped inside, and he slammed the door shut, before running over to his side and jumping in himself. He shot me a cheesy grin, before shoving his keys into the ignition, and firing up his truck.
Minutes later, we peeled out of the gravel driveway, and made our way back onto the main road. "I'm sorry I had to rush you." He said, playing with the stick-shift. "My mutter wouldn't care to let me out of the house, so I basically just ran away." He said, chuckling as he glanced over at me. I smiled down at my feet, and before long I found myself lost in thought. Even though all of this was nice, I couldn't help but feel guilty for being this happy. I kept thinking to myself that I didn't deserve any of this, and that I should be suffering just like the rest of my task force. The more I thought about it, the more I felt my smile slowly drop. However, the sound of Nick's voice brought me back to the present, and I immediately gave him my full attention. "Liebling? Are you alright?" He asked, glancing over to me, and then back at the road ahead of us.
I thought about telling him, but ultimately chose not to. "Yeah, just a little cold that's all." I lied, glancing out the window. "I have a jacket behind the seat, it probably smells like gas, but it's something." He said, reaching back behind the chair to feel around for it. As soon as he did, I felt tears begin to well up in my eyes once again. Lying to him was virtually impossible, and even though I'd just done it, I felt so bad.
One sniffle too loud, made him look up at me, and immediately he pulled the truck over over the side of the road. He sighed, before putting the car in park, and looking over at me. "There's something you aren't telling me. Isn't there?" He asked, his voice was low, and calm. I didn't answer, instead i silently cried, as I looked out the foggy window. The rain had stopped a while ago, and the sky was starting to clear up now.
"I can't help you, if I don't know what you're struggling with." He said, and again I didn't answer. He stayed silent, and for a while, the only noise that came from that truck was me trying my hardest to cry as silently as possible. Then I heard him click his seatbelt off, and he reached over to gently pull my good arm, so that I was looking directly at him. He used his thumb to wipe away some of my tears. "You know you can tell me anything. I just want to help." He whispered. "Okay..." I whimpered out, and he cupped my face in his huge hands. "I'm listening, you have my full attention." He said, bumping his forehead onto mine. "So, I was-...we were going to do a raid one night, and I was sent in solo to collect intel." I started, and felt as Nick rose up.
"Don't worry, Price and Gaz were there to clear the way for me, and Ghost and Soap were watching my flank." I said, and I saw him relax a bit. "The mission was going fine, but when I was waiting for the signal to move up, I realized that coms were out. It was weird, because we'd just got there, and whatnot, but I didn't think too much of it. I somehow found my way into their archives, and began trying to find important files, but before I could even get the thing open, I heard someone behind me. I got lucky, and was able to escape them, but I ran into two more guys. I lost one, but the other kept on following me. The place itself was like a literal maze, and I just kept running in circles until I couldn't anymore...."
"...Each time I'd stop he'd shoot me, and it got to a point where I was just so tired, I collapsed. I thought the guy was going to finish me off but he didn't, because Simon shot him dead. Laswell ended up telling me that Soap tried to run down, and get me, Price, and Gaz out, but he couldn't save himself. And Simon tried to get Soap out, but got shot up so bad, he nearly died too." I managed to get out, before I broke down for the 5th time in two days. "I- none of this would've happened if I wouldn't have been so tired. If I would've been up to full health, then maybe I could've stalled the man, or just faced him off. I don't know, I could've done something different, because now I just feel so guilty, and full of sadness." I choked out.
I felt Nick pull me over onto his side, where he hugged me. "Shhhh, it's okay let it all out. None of this was your fault-" he started before I cut him off. "It is! I was the first one to get downed, meaning everyone else had to swoop in and save my ass." I cried, clutching onto his shirt. "Well, think of it like this. You said coms went out immediately, right?" He asked, and I mumbled a barely audible 'mhm'. "Then, they probably knew your task force was coming. In every stealth operation, theres gotta be someone small who can slip in, and out unnoticed. Someone who doesn't have a lot of heavy weaponry. Someone vulnerable, and easy to take down if caught. Those types of people are usually women, so they probably put 2 and 2 together, and figured if they found, and took out the woman first, then the rest of your team would come out to try and retrieve your body. Their plan somewhat worked, but they only got 1 kill from it. So it wasn't because you weren't up to full health, you already had a target on your back before you even knew it." He said, petting my damp hair.
"There's no need to beat yourself up anymore, okay? I know it's hard, but everything will be alright. I'm here with you now, and I'm not going anywhere. I promise." He said, kissing the top of my head. "You ready to go, now?" He asked, and I silently nodded. He pulled the seatbelt around the both of us, and put his truck in drive. My eyes shot open, and I questioned how on Earth he was going to drive with me sitting here like this. When I tried to move though, he held me steady, as if he didn't want me to, and so I stayed up against his chest, shivering every now, and then at the how cold it felt. "My love, you will have your good days, and you will have your bad days. I will be here with you through all of them, so never feel like you have to hide things from me, okay?" He said, virtually out of nowhere. Smiling at the new pet name he'd given me, I nodded, and enjoyed listening to the rumbling sounds his chest made whenever he spoke.
-
It wasn't long before we arrived at his house. I was the first to jump of the truck, as I was literally freezing. When we got inside, I immediately ran to the bathroom, and jumped in the shower. I was so cold, i made sure to turn the water as hot as it could go so I could warm myself up. As I stood under the shower head, I felt for the first time in weeks that everything was going to be just fine, and that I was safe here. Smiling to myself, I shut the water off, and got out. However, I soon realized that I literally had no clothes, and so I grabbed a towel, and wrapped it around my body, before opening the bathroom door. Nick was nowhere in the room, and so I dashed over to the edge of his bed, and smelled a shirt of his to see if it was clean. It was, and so I quickly pulled it on, letting the towel drop to my ankles. Almost as if I'd timed this, I heard him walk into his bed room.
Fixing his shirt on me, I spun around to face him, and awkwardly smiled. "I forgot I didn't have clothes..." I said, scratching my head. He smiled, and cleared his throat. "That's okay. Cmon let's go out." He said out of nowhere, shooting me a sly smirk. "Huh? Wha- go where?" I whined. Truth be told, I didn't wanna go anywhere right about now, I was exhausted, and rightfully so. I'd cried for what seemed like forever, and just wanted some proper sleep. "Out." Was all he said, before leaning his body onto the doorframe. "So, no specifics....no nothing?" I asked, walking over to the side of his bed, and sitting down. "Mmh." Was all he said, and I nearly hit the roof. "Nick what is going on? Why are you acting like this?" I asked, groaning, and pinching the bridge of my nose in between my two fingers. "Acting like what? I just want to go somewhere with my girlfriend, is that a crime?" He retaliated, and I felt my mouth fly open.
I'd never heard him call me that, and to say I was shook was a complete understatement. I felt my cheeks start to burn, and even though he couldn't see that I was blushing, he knew I was. He huffed a laugh, and pushed himself to stand, before making his way over to me. "I'm sorry I'm being so..." He started, before letting his eyes trail off elsewhere. "...Conspicuous, but I have two surprises for you." He continued, locking eyes with me again. 'What the hell...' I thought to myself. "Trust me, it's worth it mein liebe." He said, hooking a finger underneath my chin, and kneeling down to brush his lips against mine. What started off as delicate little kisses, quickly turned into hungry, desperate ones.
He pushed me back onto the bed, and partially crawled ontop of me, fondling my breasts as he suffocated me with his long, drawn out kisses. At first I thought that we were going to go to town, but that was, until he pulled away. "You can leave the clothes you have on now. I'll be outside when you're ready." He said, whispering into my ear, before standing up again, turning around, and leaving the room.
'What the...fuck?' I asked myself, as I sat up and fixed my bunched up shirt. I wiped the trail of slob that was left behind from our rather quick little intimate session with the back my hand, and trudged over to the door. I slipped on a pair of slides, and as I made my way down the stairs, I saw Nick through the front windows, just leaning on his old ford truck, waiting for me. It'd been a while since i'd seen him without a mask, let alone seen him at all, and man....he was genuinely beautiful. He'd changed his clothes at some point, and his dirty brown hair glistened in the sunset. His skin was so radiant, it made me feel self conscious about my own acne. Smiling to myself, I continued my decent down the stairs, and walked out the front door.
I locked it behind me, and turned to face his direction. As I did, I caught him staring at me like I was the most heavenly thing to ever befall his eyes, and to my surprise he said just that. "You're so amazing....I'm so blessed to have you liebling." He beamed, brandishing those sharp k9s of his. Being too flustered to say anything of value, I simply smiled back at him, and nodded. It was the first time I'd ever seen him smile like that, and I made sure to keep that image of him stowed away for safe remembrance. He opened his truck door, and I hopped in. He got in on the other side, and once again we were off.
The car ride was silent for the most part, aside from me flipping though different stations on his radio. Often times pausing whenever I heard a song that I knew just to sing along. The whole time, he had this huge, goofy grin on his face, and when he had to nearly stomp on breaks, his arm flew out in front of me to keep me from flying forward. I thanked him, and for a while he kept it there. That is until it got tired, and he slowly lowered his hand down onto my thigh. At first I jumped a bit from the extra weight, but once I realized that it was him, I relaxed myself, and glanced over at him. He didn't look back at me, instead, he kept his eyes on the road, with his one hand on top of the steering wheel, and the other gently rubbing my thigh.
By the time he pulled onto another dirt road, the Sun had basically set by now. "You're not gonna kill me, and hide my body away in some sacred area are you?" I asked, and as soon as the vehicle came to a complete stop, he put it in park and looked over at me. "You're too precious to me, so no I can't do that." He said, lightly squeezing my thigh, before undoing his seatbelt, and getting out of the truck. I was about to do the same, until I saw him dash in front of the car, over to my side. He smiled at me through the window, and opened my door for me, holding out a hand to assist me in stepping down.
At first, I didn't know where the hell were were going, because the farther we walked down this dirt path, the thicker shrubbery seemed to get. Nick was behind me, walking with his hands on my shoulders, and it wasn't until I started to see light shining through the bushes, did he cover my eyes with his hands. "Nick what are you-" I started, before he shushed me. "Don't worry, I've got you. Just keep walking, I said it was a surprise." He said, effectively steering me by my shoulders, the closer we got to the lights, the more I began to grow curious, as to what it was that he was going to show me. "Step up." he said, and I did. It was then we came to a complete stop, and he took his hand away from my eyes.
Whatever it was, was so bright my eyes had to adjust, and I shoved my palms into eye sockets. "Are you alright?" He asked, and I gave him a quick thumbs up. After massaging them for some time, I was able to get a good look at what he was showing me. It was a beautiful, two story house, with all kinds of plants, and flowers hugging it. My eyes widened, and as I took in every inch of the house, I noticed just how unique it was. It looked to be all glass, but at the same time it wasn't. "Do you want to go inside?" He asked, leaning down to whisper in my ear. I nodded as if I was in a trance, and he held his hand out for me to take it.
"Is this legal....?" I asked, still in awe at the house's architectural design. He laughed, and spun around to face me. "Of course it's legal my love, this is my house." He said, walking backwards, before turning back around to lead me up the steps. Once inside, I noticed that the glass...wasn't exactly glass. It was blackout glass, meaning that people could see out of the house, but people on the outside couldn't see in. The house was barren, aside from a few empty paint buckets, and trays. "Did you do all of this?" I asked, totally in awe as I looked up at the ceiling, and up onto the second floor. "I built a few things here and there, but what I really made were the designs for the house. I hand-drew everything, and gave it to an friend old friend of mine to build." He said.
"Do you like it?" He asked, and I whipped my head around to nod a 'yes!' He smiled at this, before pulling me to face him. "Remember when I said I had two surprises? Well, this is one....and the other is this." He said, taking both of my hands. I literally had to give up on looking at him in his eyes, because he was too tall. I settled on staring at chest instead. He took in a deep breath, before he began to talk. "I didn't know when I was going to have the chance to do this, but...after the whole incident we had earlier...I swear I fell for you even harder. You were right telling me that you weren't perfect, because as much as I didn't want to believe it, I used to think you were, and today you showed me that you were human, too. Forgive me, because I didn't rehearse any of this, I just- I really wanted to tell you how I felt...about us....about you." He said, gulping a bit.
"When I first saw you, I knew for a fact that you would be the love of my life. I didn't know what it was about you, and I initially tried to ignore it, but...that didn't really work out." He said, chuckling a bit before continuing. "After I talked to you for the first time, I just fell for you even harder. You're were so beautiful, so intelligent, diligent even. You knew what you wanted out of life, and weren't afraid to do the work necessary to achieve your goals. It's truly everything I could ever want in a woman. When you came, and rescued me from that asylum, and forgave me for hurting Horangi. When you patched me up in your bathroom, and told me that everything was going to be alright, it all just made me fall head over heels for you, and so, when you told me that you loved me back that one night....I- I couldn't hold back my tears, I was so happy. The woman of my dreams said she loved me back....heh. It was amazing..."
"...Here we are now, after going through so much together, and with you putting up with my crazy behavior, I ask that we spend the rest of our lives together, if that's okay with you, of course." He said, shooting me a sly smirk before releasing one of my hands, and getting down on one knee. "Belle, will you marry me?" He asked, staring up at me with eyes that were so soft, and vulnerable. He was practically holding his heart out to me, and was begging for me to take it; which was exactly what I did. "Yes, yes!" I said, nodding as tears fell from my eyes. I watched as he let go of a breath he was seemingly holding in, before reaching in his pocket, and pulling out a ring. He gently slid it on my ring finger, and kissed the back of my hand. "I love you." He whispered, and I fell down to my knees to hug his neck.
~
Epilogue:
Only a few more weeks passed, before me and Nick got married. He wanted to make it official as quickly as possible, and he made sure to invite virtually everyone to our wedding. However, during those first few weeks of preparation, I got to meet his mother, who was literally drop dead gorgeous. We got along great, and whenever Nick wasn't around, she took the chance to tell me more about him when he was a kid. She would always tell me that she was forever in debt to me for bringing her son back to her. It turns out, that after the death of his older brother, Krueger, she said that König completely changed.
He went from being a social little kid who loved critters, to just a closed off shell of his former self. She never knew how to help him, and so they would always fight, driving a deep wedge into their relationship. They grew farther, and farther apart, and it got to a point where she felt like she didn't even know her own son anymore. When he enlisted into the military, he didn't even tell when her would be leaving, and she came home to a note on the fridge one night saying not to look for him, and that he had enlisted. As she told me this, I couldn't help but feel horrible for her, but that all changed when she told me that they'd patched things up again, and to not worry. (I went on to get her blessing.)
Simon was released from the hospital not long after I had left, and he was able to attend the wedding, along with the rest of my team. Seeing them there, alive, and well made me so happy. Simon had to have a few surgeries, as he had a few altered bullets fired into his body as well. Price, and Gaz were both stable now, and Laswell.....well she walked me down the aisle.
Sometime after the wedding, I got word from Laswell, that Stephen had been arrested. (Remember her? Yeah, well she was a former best friend of Belle's who'd turned bitter over the years.) Laswell ended up telling me that Stephen was behind the first incident with those three guys. They didn't just happen to know that I was there on the second floor by myself. Stephen had told them my schedule, and she knew no one would be in as early me, and so out of pure spite, she fed them lies about me, telling them that I was "easy" and to "take their time with me." Of course I was furious upon hearing this, but I chose not to waste my energy on pondering things of the past. It was pointless, and once I learned that she was up for the death penalty, I let go of my anger completely.
After moving into the house König made for us, it was quickly established that I was a stay at home wife, while he went out and worked in his mother's flower shop. (Neither of us had to really work because of our salary, but he only did it to help out with his mom.) It was nice staying home for once, and having a break, however boredom quickly set in. We'd talked about having kids a couple of times, but the conversation was usually cut short as he said that felt like I was forcing myself to want them. However, after a few more lonely months, I went up to him one night, and proposed the idea first. I made sure to assure him that this was all my idea, and that I wanted a child of our own. He didn't even let me finish my sentence before he was all over me. (We had a pretty intense night...)
However, pregnancy wasn't the easiest thing in the world, and I wish we would have known that beforehand. After many failed attempts, I finally fell pregnant, and 9 months later, I gave birth to my very first baby girl. Nick cried entire day our daughter was born, and he also cried the day she learned to walk, and talk, too. (Her first words were mama, and she during her first steps she went to me. I made to rub it in his face that I was the better parent.) To fill the house up even more, we adopted a German Shepard puppy, for Lilia (Our daughter's name.) to have as a companion. Our life was amazing, and whenever we went out shopping, people would always say....I was the Belle, who tamed the Beast.
End of Book 1 . . . . (10,684 Words.)
Author's Note:
There's no regular author's note at the end of this one guys, as this is the last chapter for this book. I thank you all for you sticking around to the end to read this little message, as well as giving my very first book so much attention. It's honestly a blessing to see just how many people looked forward to reading my updates.
I used to think that I'd have a whole speech to give when it came down to my last chapter, but I don't really have anything else to say. (I'll probably think of something else later.) I hope I did this chapter justice, by tying up all of the loose ends, and giving you all the proper outcome that Belle, and König deserved.
By the way, the alternate ending was just going to be when Belle woke up from her coma, she realized that everything that had happened to her wasn't real, and the people that were gathered around her bedside was her family. But all in all, thank you for reading The Belle, And the Beast, and I will see you guys in book two! Love you all sm.😁❤️
I'm not crying.....you are! 🥲