The Long Run (Prequel to Time Loop)

Chapter Seventeen

~The Next Morning~

"You haven't eaten," Erik noted, watching as I twirled my fork around the rim of my plate. The loud scraping of the metal fork against the glassy white plate made him flinch uncomfortably. We went out for breakfast, his treat of course, to discuss our next move. 

"I'm not that hungry," I muttered as I averted his concerned gaze, focusing on the sharp metal fork. After that night, I had lost my appetite. There was a brief silence, as if he expected me to give some explanation. But to his demise, he wasn't going to receive one, at least not one by will.

He sighed, sensing my sudden distant attitude toward him. "You're angry."

"No, I'm not," I refuted, setting my fork down. "I'm just...still trying to process. And I know, it might make me sound like a hypocrite since before I was so willing to help you kill, but I just can't help but feel a tinge of guilt."

"Why would you feel guilty?" He asked with furrowed eyebrows.

"Because I'm the reason that man is dead. If I had been a little quicker, I would have been able to get the upper hand and you wouldn't have had to shoot him," I explained. "Don't get me wrong, I'm really grateful that you saved my life, but I don't think any of that was your fault. The guilty conscience lies solely on me."

"Isabelle, you have no reason to feel guilty about anything," Erik assured, placing his hand on mine and slowly sliding his thumb up and down the palm of it. "You were in danger and if we ever had to face that situation again, I wouldn't falter to killing again if it meant saving your life."

"I don't get it...why am I so important to you?" I was utterly confused. He didn't seem like the person to trust so easily. "I've told you so little about my past, and you're willing to kill another human being for me? I just don't see it."

"Isabelle, you're the only person I've grown close to that I haven't lost. And I don't plan on losing you any time soon, okay?"

I nodded and muttered quietly in agreement, "Okay."

"Great," Erik let go of my hand and took out a navy blue journal from his jacket.

"Where did you get that?" I asked as he flipped through its rusty beige pages.

"From the man I killed. It turns out his name is Elias," Erik answered, skimming through a few pages until he spotted the page he needed. "Aha! Recruitment meeting scheduled in London. Schmidt is bringing possible members. Mutants from all over the world will attend."

"So it was supposed to be in England," I said, "I knew it was a trap."

"Well not was. It says here that it will be happening next week," Erik corrected, ripping out a page from the book, "He wrote the time and place here. We just have to show up."

"But what if it's just another trap?" I asked.

"Then we will just have to take the chance. Are you still willing to accompany me?"

"Of course," I nodded confidently. We are on the move once again. It would be our last day in Finland; our last day to enjoy the city's beauty.

"Wonderful. I'll get us plane tickets for tomorrow afternoon," Erik said with a slight smile. "Is there anything you would like to do today?"

"Wait-seriously?" I wasn't sure I heard him right. This was the first time Erik wanted to actually have fun since I had met him. 

"Yes," he laughed slightly, "We have all day."

In giddy excitement, I grabbed his wrist and pulled him up from his seat. "What are we waiting for then?"

I dropped a tip on the table and we ran off, heading into the cold morning day. Although it was snowing tremendously-yet not as much as Moscow, we still managed to sight-see as we trudged through the thick layers of snow. Erik had actually seemed to be enjoying himself for once, which was a rare sight. It brought a smile to my face seeing as he was finally enjoying himself and not worrying about going on another mission, even if this was only going to be short lived.

By the end of the day, we went back to our hotel room, exhausted from the day's events. However, it was a peaceful feeling of exhaustion; one that held less guilt and worry than on days when we'd come back from interrogating people.

We meandered down the hotel hallway, and I struggled to open the door due to having a little too many drinks. Erik was more of a lightweight than me surprisingly, so he struggled just getting inside the room once I got it open.

As soon as I shut the door behind me, Erik's lips came sloppily crashing onto mine. He tasted like thick beer and I was stunned at first, but soon melted into the kiss as well. His hands slid down to my waist as he pushed me against the door, his kisses getting more desperate and animistic. So much was going on that sooner or later, I was carried onto his bed.

I finally opened my eyes, seeing Erik hovering over me. I pulled him in for another kiss then lifted up my arms as he helped pull up my shirt. Once he was done, I helped pull up his and hungrily kissed him again.

"I..." Erik spoke between each kiss, "love you."

What he said hadn't processed my mind at the moment, and I just smiled brightly in return, leaning in for another deep kiss. It didn't hit me how much three words could affect a person till the next morning.

In the span of one night, alcohol became the truth serum that revealed what had been long concealed by little white lies and utter in denial. Let's just say, we ended our last day in Finland, with a bang.