Red

Luciano.

It couldn't be real. Color drained out of my face, my lips parted and I heaved in an unsteady breath as his hands slipped away from my mouth. Tears collected inside my eyes and I blinked them away while staring back at his silvery ones.

My lips set into a firm smile, his hand wrapped around the back of my neck and our heads touched, meeting at a union. I freed a silent sob and felt him, his heartbeat, his presence, his body.

The stare his eyes gave me was one of the purest ones I had ever seen, with so many conflicting emotions and pain, pain that I wish I could've taken away weeks ago, when I died in his arms.

He brushed his thumb over my cheeks and closed his eyes before intertwining his fingers with mine and locking them between his.

I still stared at him and his face, not pausing the happiness for a second. With my heart racing, I shed out another tear when I realized it hadn't been long, but it still, somehow, felt like a century had passed by.

Luciano was the same, he had the dark ash brown hair, and only the thickness of his beard had grown. Clearly, he needed to trim that. There was pain all over his face and his eyes but he still managed to survive without me, even if it was for a few weeks.

When he raised his head and looked at me, his eyes filled with tears. He cupped my face and inhaled sharply before giving me a kiss over my forehead. Taking my hand again, he walked me out of the area and in that moment, I forgot everything.

Who was inside the library? How did Luciano find me? What was he even doing here? How did this all happen?

It was as if all my dreams were fulfilled in a snap of a second, and I didn't even have to beg for it.

I wiped away the tears and followed Luciano out of the house but stopped him before he went further. There was a drawback to everything.

"I can't leave." I whispered, meeting his eyes again.

"Why?" He furrowed his brows and asked, holding my face.

I placed my hand over his and felt the rush of blood upon touching it. "It's a long story."

"I've all the time in the world." He shifted his gaze towards the mansion and to the sky. His hand tightened around mine and he continued. "Come with me, I've a better place." His voice was edged with grief and tears, it made me feel the guilt all over again.

I followed him back to the mansion and crossed the empty hallways. Dozens of questions and thoughts rung in my mind as it was strange seeing Luciano around here, all alone. He stopped by the west wing of the mansion and peeked from the hallway into the stairs. I stood in the shadows, behind me as he his curious eyes glanced around.

We heard a few people walking around and whispering, when they faded, Luciano gave me a little tug and pulled me away from the hallway. He reached a tall, beige door and pushed it open. There was a staircase, leading towards the rooftop of the mansion.

I hesitated for a second and looked around and over my shoulders. We couldn't be seen together, I had no idea what Luciano was doing here and neither did he.

"It's okay." Luciano extended his hand out.

I gathered up courage and took his hand before climbing up the twenty stairs and reaching the spacious, tiled roof of the mansion. My legs shook with every step, I was afraid, and my unsteady heartbeat met with my fear—it was of the unknown. I wished for this but it happening felt dangerous.

We left the doorway and the door rocked before shutting close. The cold breeze of England attacked me and I shuddered before stopping. I caught a glimpse of Luciano's dark eyes, his arms spread and wrapped around my little frame, giving all the warmth I ever needed.

I traced a line down his back and curled with him. No words came over my lips, neither did any apologies. I had no idea on what to say, what to tell him. Meeting him again, after dying, felt the same as it did a few years ago, when I was nothing more than a shy, eighteen-year-old.

Seeing him felt great, and it was beautiful but Luciano was void and I could feel the emptiness and the sadness in him when I touched him.

"I'm sorry." I slipped away for a second but he didn't allow me to.

"Shh." His warm breath fanned over my neck before disappearing into my hair. He held me closer and tighter. "No offence, but your hair smells horrible."

As I giggled, my body rumbled, still trapped in his embrace. "I just dyed it."

My knees buckled and his hand went to my back. He pulled me down to the ground and only when seated, he moved aside. The quick breaths rushed back into my lungs and I got lost in his eyes again.

I waited.

And waited.

"Why did you leave me, Red?" He asked.

I leaped over him and hugged him tight as we wept in the beautifully serene and moonlit night. "You know I didn't have a choice." I said between my sobs.

"I should've protected you..."

"No, no." I held his delicate face in my hands and shook my head. "This wasn't your fault. It was mine."

"I killed you—"

"It doesn't matter. I jumped in, Gretel killed me, you didn't. I would never blame you for that, Luciano." I puffed out a miserable breath and leaned in closer, our heads almost touching. "I love you."

The emotions appeared on his dark and dangerous eyes slowly. His warm hand met my lower-back and for a second, he narrowed his gaze and looked up at me again. "I love you too." I smiled as he braced me. "And I promise that nothing will separate us ever again, not even death." A hint of red flashed in his iris as he spoke.

"You don't have too. It's fine now, everything is okay. Gretel's dead, our worries are over and I've you." I whispered as another tear crashed down my cheeks.

"I'm sorry. It was my obligation to protect you, to love you, to keep you happy but I failed, Red, I failed so bad that I lost you and at the end of the day, I had to kill you, I had to bear your blood on my hands, I had to watch you die in my lap." His voice came out deep, and hoarse, filled with guilt.

I wanted the take all that pain away from him but couldn't do anything, except give my words, hoping they were enough to cure and restore what we had.

"It's okay, Luciano, it's okay."

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