Fighting with Fire #2 ✔

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟑𝟑 - 𝐄𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫

𝘞𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨: 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵

I don't remember much of what it was like being dead.

It felt like a long sleep more than anything. The only way I knew I'd been dead was the fact I remembered being shot and dying, and I remembered coming back. There wasn't really anything in between.

I remembered my rebirth, the way I'd fully transformed into the Phoenix and risen high above the lake. Despite not being in control of that, I'd been conscious of it — I saw the mountains and forests all around the ranch for miles, and I could even see the distant lights of Missoula, and hear the distant hum of the city traffic.

Then I floated back down into the water, as the fire burnt away all my scars.

Sat on my bed in the hut, I pressed my hand against my chest, where I'd been shot. There was nothing there, no hole, no blood, no scar, no nothing — almost as if it had never happened.

But it had.

Theo had been by my side, and I saw in his eyes how relieved he was to have me back. Then he left me again, alone in the hut.

I counted every second of the five minutes and 50 seconds that he was gone for — a total of 350 seconds without him.

He'd changed out of his damp clothes and brought a change of clothes for me as well. I stood as soon as he was inside the hut.

"Are you hungry or thirsty or anything?" Theo asked me, his eyes quickly flicking up and down my body to check I was okay.

"Surprisingly, I'm not hungry or thirsty," I realised, a slight smile finding my face, "Thanks for asking, though."

"Do you..." He shifted awkwardly, uncomfortably. "Do you want me to leave you? So that you can get changed, or I could just go—"

I pressed my lips desperately against his. "Don't you dare leave me again tonight."

His eyebrows shot up in surprise, but he dropped the spare clothes to the floor and wrapped his hands around my waist as he kissed me back.

"When I came out of the lake," I told him, breaking the kiss and looking deep into his hazel eyes, "I was so confused, so lost... And then I saw you, and I wasn't lost anymore. It's like you're the only one that's making sense."

He rested his forehead against mine, looking deep into my own eyes as he admitted, "I was so lost without you, I felt so empty, so hopeless... Nothing else mattered without you."

I was forced to swallow as he tucked my loose hair behind my ear, his fingers gently brushing my skin.

"I meant what I said, right before I died." I didn't let my gaze drop from him, no matter how much I wanted to. I'd realised my love for him in the last few hours of... that life, though I was certain it had been slowly building and growing more day by day for a long while.

Theo's eyes flicked quickly over my face. "You sure you weren't — I don't know, delusional, or something?"

"I'm sure." I nodded, pulling his hand to rest over my steadily beating heart. "I love you."

"I love you too," he responded immediately, "I've loved you for what feels like a very long time, and I'm not sure I'll ever stop loving you."

"I was too scared to admit it for a long while... but now I know I do," I told him, holding his face in my hands. My voice shook slightly, "I realised something, in my last few minutes..."