Every Rose Has It's Thorn

Every Rose Has It's Thorn Chapter 25 *Final Chapter*

Word Count: 1,759

Dying didn't seem so bad, really. For Colson it seemed like it would be an escape; but he was still hesitant. While being trapped in prison though, was not the way he wanted to go. But, even so, he knew Y/N could never bear hearing the news and how it would inevitably destroy her. He could never live with himself to cause such pain to someone he loved, someone that is his wife. 

He could not help but yelp in a broken voice, “Y/N?” His voice raspy and strained. He wanted to put a hand up to wipe away the tears rolling from his eyes, but he was barely able to feel his arms, never mind the rest of his body.

“Colson?” 

If he was really here, if he was alive, she would have would for sure have a full body shock from that unexpected voice. “W-what?” She said lowly and quietly, wanting to look somewhere else then the darkness that swallowed up her vision.  

She could have sworn that voice sounded just like…

There was a pregnant pause, one where Y/N could not help but get tangled up in her thoughts. 

Colson turned silent, and Y/N was only reassured that she was still there by the way his presence lingered in front of her. 

For a while Colson's hopes that he had of afterlife were envisioned peaceful, flower fields and soft lights--clouds and wings even; overall, a paradise.

Colson broke the long silence, “Y/N?” 

“Yes, Colson?” 

“...Iove you—truly and unconditionally love you, something I never thought I could ever do.” 

He could see her smile even in the dim lighting, “I love you too,I'd never once stopped and never will till my dying breath.” came her voice heavy laden with sadness. 

Colson inhales a sudden sharp breath at the radiant morning glow. Red slants of sunlight sprinkle down the window sill, casting a pulsating waterfall of light over Y/N's face.

Puzzle pieces are falling into place. Cloaked stranger. Cell door mysteriously opened. Walls crumbled leaving behind nothing but dust and rubble. None of it makes sense, however it happened all Colson knew is that he was free absolutely free. The king could no longer keep him prisoner, he was somehow executed no doubt courtesy of the cloaked stranger that saved him from the dark and dank prison cell.

 "Y/N!" Colson calls out emotion thick in his voice.

Colson's P.O.V….

            My beloved Y/N jumps at her name. I hold out my arms, and she lunges forward into my embrace. I pull her closer so I can hear her frantic heartbeat thumping inside her chest.

Y/N sinks into the warmth of my familiar touch. He was really and truly here, it wasn't a dream or a vision. 

I try not to show emotions, an impassive face of nothing almost stoic in my expression. That’s how I get through life, and how I stays alive. Or rather did, it was here in this moment I could let my walls down. 

I can smell her cinnamon hands, vanilla hair full of sugar. Her laughter lines and beautiful smile. The warmth of her embrace, comforting and safe. I was surged with memories all at once. 

While in captivity I was terrified but hid behind a false bravado of courage. It’s the most devastating thing I'd seen in there. All I wanted was to stop seeing it.

 Y/N smiles sweetly. “I missed you, a big part of me was gone but with you here now that part has returned."

“God, how much I missed you Y/N.” Relief pours out as the warmth of her breath fans across my lips.