Hidden Meanings

Heartbeat [Cale]

My whole world swayed. It tilted, sweeping my entire vision to one side as the ground decided to greet me a bit too quickly.

"Oh, looks like our dear Casper is bleeding out~!"

I gave no response to that, my eyes going blurry as Lusitania placed her boot over my windpipe. "Well, Casper's about to go bye-bye."

"F....F...Finish..." I could barely gasp out the word and the movement caused blood to bubble up, dribbling down the side of my mouth before a droplet landed on the ground. 

"I'll actually pass on that. I want your dear brother to arrive when you take your last breath, dying on the ground in agony. Ah, such despair for your brother. After all, it is my payback for nearly gunning me in that airplane of his."

I didn't respond, but held back the sigh of relief that nearly escaped my lips when Lusitania lifted her foot. Her action left me gasping for breath, my punctured lung causing each intake to be another battle. 

After the sound of her boots gracefully moving across the Earth faded away, I pressed one finger against the lump in my pocket. I knew I was going to die. Gerald was our best medic and he had passed out, sadly. Besides, two wounds through your lungs as well as a gunshot through the stomach wasn't exactly screaming 'survival'. It was screaming the exact opposite.

My mind was hazy through the pain. My movements were slow, as if they took more time to accomplish. With shaking fingers, I pressed the 'call' button on Aileen's contact and shifted my position so I held the phone to my ear. The action caused another wave of pain to shoot through my limbs and I blinked back the burning behind my eyes, trying my best to pull up my mental barrier.

"H-H-Hey."

"Cas, how's your war going? Not dead yet, I hope?"

I released a breath. She hadn't realized. "Y..Yeah...I have....to...keep quiet...so...sorry that...I'm pausing...mission..."

Aileen giggled from the other side. My lips twitched up in a bloodstained smile. "You better not die there. I'm still waiting for my boyfriend to come home."

"...Yeah...about...about that...Aile...I...I might...not come...home...when..the war...ends..."

A pause from her end. 

"Cas, what are you saying?"

Another rattling breath escaped my lips. I opened my mouth to say something before my mind failed me, overfilling my thoughts for a brief moment with pure pain. It was when her voice crackled on the other end again that I was able to breakthrough and bring myself back down to Earth. "Cas?"

"Sorry..." I dismissed the questions. "Aileen...meeting..you was... fate..."

"Becoming your friend was a choice," she echoed, remembering something I had said to her before.

"But...falling in....love...with you....was out...of my...control," I finished. "Being..in love...is about...being with someone...that makes...you happy in...a...way no...one else...can...nngh-!"

From the other end, I heard Aileen sharply inhale. "Casper Dalles. Why the f*ck are you using all these cheesy lines?" 

I laughed, but the noise was bitter, filled with pain as my back arched and I tried my best not to shriek. "How...Miles...and Ran...?"

Another pause. "Good. They're still like brother-and-sister, despite the fact we both ship them." 

"And...Kiyo and...Leif...?"

"They're growing closer." Her voice was casual, but held a hint of suspicion behind it.

"Aileen...I'll wait..."

My girlfriend nearly shrieked into the phone. "You're worrying me, Cas! Stop acting so strange, you're usually so straight-forward!" 

I closed my eyes and shades of red danced beyond my eyelids. "Sorry...hey...I love you. In...life...in death...I love...you...truly."

"Come home soon, Cas."

The words held so much hope behind it- she wanted to greet me when I came home. But when this is all over...I won't be in this world anymore.

At this point, I didn't have the energy to click a button. I just lay there before I drew my last breath. Love you, Aileen Parkinson.

OoO

"Oh, what a shame," Lusitania 'tsked' as she stood off to the side. "But amusing, really. Seeing the look in your eyes. Casper's brother and Casper's girlfriend seeing his cold, limp body upon the Earth."

'I love you'. That's why even if we're going to be reborn a hundred times, I will still choose you. 

Standing off to the side, Mo couldn't tear his eyes away from the wounds deep in Casper's abdomen, pools of bright red blood  collecting in the creases of her shirt. His neck had been snapped, but clearly after death- his eyes were also closed, a phone held loosely in his palm.

Aileen didn't stay still. 

Casper was dead. Dead, dead, dead, dead. 

Each boy has that one girl he will always love.

If I could give you one thing, it would be the ability to see yourself through my eyes. Only then you'll see how truly special you are to me.