Embers of Sun and Flame: Before We Have It (Fuegoleon x OC)

Chapter 46: "We need to talk"

Night had started to roll in, though it had already been dark outside for quite some time. And Fuegoleon sat by his desk with nothing more than a single candle to keep him company along with the scratching of his pen.

It was just yet another night during which he'd get less sleep than he'd like. Not that it was unusual, but it had grown worse over the last few weeks, due to the state of the urgent matters at hand. He simply had to try and get things in order as soon as possible for the greater good.

At least the paperwork for the alliance is now being finalized with the signatures back in Thea... he thought to himself before glancing to the fluttering flame of the candle. The lonely little flame that danced on its own.

There was something... unsettling about it. He thought. Or then, perhaps, it was simply his imagination since Solara had sent him a message, telling him that she'd be spending the night in Thea.

It wasn't unreasonable. Not really. But ever since the portal had been placed onto their backyard, she had always come home for the night. Without exception.

Until now, that is.

He figured that it probably had something to do with, him not having to be careful about not waking her up. At least it was the most reasonable, logical conclusion to make. Or so he told himself as a nagging feeling kept persisting in the back of his head.

Every glance, every less than happy smile that she had given him during the past few weeks, lingered in his mind. All the times she hadn't placed a kiss onto his temple.

The funny thing was that he hadn't realized all the times she had showed him affection, before she didn't anymore. The little things... they haunted him with their absence.

'Tomorrow I'll get her flowers' he had assured himself, but by the time he had woken up and spent the day at work, he realised that it was already evening again. After which he told himself that he'd write it down soon, or that he'd remember the next day. Only that he didn't.

But he did tell her that he loved her. Every day. Because it was important to her, and to him, to hear the other utter out that phrase that was simple, and everything but simple, at the same time.

He did tell her that he loved her. But he would need to start showing it again. He knew as much. She must've missed him, as much as he missed her, despite sleeping in the same bed night after night.

Once we get this settled and I don't need to worry about stressing her out, he thought, because he still held onto the idea that it'd be good for both her and the baby to not be burdened.

But still, all the little things left unsaid, undone, bothered him. Though he couldn't exactly blame her for doing all the work when it came to their relationship on her own. He was more occupied than before, or at least since she had joined the squad, and he couldn't expect her to try reaching out to him continuously without receiving something in return. Which he tried to do with what little time he had. A quick kiss here and there. A message, a note to let her know that he'd be staying later than he thought. An 'I love you' whenever he had the chance.

But still, he couldn't remember to get her flowers.

His eyes turned to the side, to an empty page of a notepad on his desk. And his hand moved to pull it closer, just so that the pen he was holding was able to glide over it, creating that scratching sound of the ink pen, and leave behind a note for himself.

'Get her flowers before she comes back tomorrow, and tell her, that you love her. Tell her that soon you'll have more time'.

But the thing was: he wasn't sure when that soon would be. And... as that little nagging voice in the back of his head persisted, the voice that he tried to shrug off, still made his stomach twist in a quiet shadow of a whisper that hoped, that he hadn't kept her waiting for too long. Because this was the time when he was supposed to be there for her. He was supposed to support her by being by her side. But instead work and responsibilities kept him away.