[1] Midnight Lips | Ghost

𝐂𝐇. 70

𝐕𝐀𝐋 / 𝐆𝐇𝐎𝐒𝐓
❁༺♥༻☠︎

Val
"I begged them to kill me too, to put an end to my misery," continued Ghost, while he watched me cry and cry in front of him. None of us reached for the other one, but we had never been more connected as Ghost told me his story to make me understand. I winced when he said almost carelessly, "They slit my throat open and left me there to die. I remember closing my eyes and waiting for death to come, but it never did. I survived. I fucking survived when I wish I didn't."

I couldn't take it anymore, I threw myself into Ghost's arms. The fact that he still had that thought, that he still wanted to die, made me feel strangely sad and mad, because I couldn't imagine Ghost not being alive. I couldn't imagine not watching his eyes light up and his lips curving into a smile. I couldn't live without his touch and kisses. I simply couldn't.

I wasn't sure who was holding who. Ghost was stroking my hair while I cried in his chest, and I was caressing his back while he buried his head in my neck. His story was too much to say and too much to take, but it was necessary to comprehend. And I got it all. The reason he was so afraid to meet outside, the reason he was so afraid to get close to me, to open up, I got it all. Now it was my turn to make him understand that there was nothing to be scared of.

I pulled back and cupped his cheeks to make eye contact and make sure he wouldn't look away. "I am so sorry that happened to you, Ghost, I'm really, really sorry, but you don't have to worry about ruining me if you decide to share your life with me. You changed. You are not making the same mistakes and you will make better choices. You will never do something that threatens my life. You are going to keep us safe. You will make sure of that, I know that. I know you."

He shook his head ever so slightly. "I decided that the day the Riley family died, Simon Riley died with them. Ghost was born in his place. Ghost was the death that I always wished would take me away. You say you want me to share my life with you, but what happens when all I know is death?"

I opened my mouth to say something, yet I couldn't think of anything. How could I respond to that? He was right, I only knew what he was like as Ghost, cold and devoid of emotions. However, Ghost was also gentle and cared for me. I refused to believe that I was falling for nothing, that I developed feelings for him just because of the forced proximity. I genuinely liked him, I genuinely half-loved Ghost. And even if we went our separate ways, he would still have a special place in my heart.

Ghost cupped my cheeks now, wiping with his thumbs the tears in my face that were still falling. "Ever since Ghost took over," he said, "I couldn't stop wondering why the man behind the mask survived in the first place. Was it because I deserved to remember my mistake and what cost me? Or was it for another reason? I wondered what was it, all until you came around." Ghost leaned down and pressed our foreheads together. "I am starting to think Simon survived for you."

My heart stopped beating, everything did. The tension took a U-turn in the direction I wanted it to go. "Ghost."

"I am falling for you, Valentina Herrera."

A sob escaped my mouth, a shudder of relief traveled throughout my body before warmth overtook me. Those words were the ones I had been wanting to hear ever since I confessed my feelings to him this morning, and now that I finally had, I wanted to open my chest and treasure them forever. "You can't take it back," I said, repeating his words from earlier. "Never."