Blurred Lines

Chapter 33 - Snow At The Beach

February 5, 1993

Isabella and John Black Loft

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One night a few moons ago

I saw flecks of what could've been lights

But it might just have been you

Passing by unbeknownst to me

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"Look, Izzy-B, it'll be fast," John said, pulling his heavy coat off of the coat rack by the door. He snatched up his car keys, and put his wallet in his back pocket. "I'll just run over to Doc's place, and make sure they have supplies, and double check that the shutters are locked down. I'll be back before you know it."

"Our flight leaves in less than two hours, John! We have to leave before the blizzard hits, or we won't be leaving at all!" She was furious. Brady started to cry in her arms, and she bounced him a little while helplessly watching her husband with dark eyes. This was precisely why they were leaving, because he would forever do things like this, and she was over it. "Marlena is a big girl, John. Call Bo to go check her shutters! Call Shawn! Call Shane for G-d's sake... but it doesn't have to be you. You don't have to be her savior!"

He couldn't have another argument with her. They were leaving Salem. She was getting what she wanted. Shaking his head, he said, "It'll give me a chance to say goodbye to the kids one more time." In truth, he was worried, but he also had this growing sense of panic he couldn't fully explain. As if leaving was the perfectly wrong thing to do. Reaching for the loft door, he pulled it open, saying over his shoulder, "I'll be back."

And he was gone, leaving his wife staring at the door as he closed it behind himself.

The snow had already started falling as he ran towards his Jeep. He had to go quickly, but he was going to go. Turning on the car, he backed out of his parking stall, and turned on his windshield wipers.

"You know life is passing by so slowly, and it's all your fault," Marlena teased, as she buttoned her pajama top.

He watched her, staring at the delicate curve of her back. She was alive, and that was all he could think about. Since she'd come out of her coma, all he'd felt was a profound sense of joy. With his hands on his hips, he asked her, "Oh, yeah? And how's that?"

"I keep thinking about you all day long, and what it's like to wake up with you, and..." She turned to look at him with the sexiest smile he'd ever seen, and he felt his muscles clench. "... what it's like to go to bed with you."

His eyes flicked down to the curve of her breasts, before saying, "Sounds like pretty nice thoughts to me."

Her arms slipped around his waist, "I want to be home with you right now."

"The doctor said you're gonna go home real soon," he told her.

Marlena wanted to go home then. "It's not soon enough for me. Not soon enough..." Her eyes stared at his lips, as she lifted herself onto her toes, kissing him softly. Her fingers threaded into his hair, and he was lost to the sensation of her mouth.

"Fuck!" John said, as his Jeep swerved on the icy road. "Get your shit together John Black. You can't keep doing this." But he couldn't stop it, as he was assaulted by another memory. This one of Christmas.

"I have a gift for you too," she told him. "Let me grab it."

He couldn't help but smile as she excitedly crossed the room, pulling open a drawer on her bedside table. She hurried back towards him, handing him a box with trembling hands. John held it in his hands, wondering if he should open it, "May I?"