Dark Visions: The Final Chapter

It was raining outside and her clothes were still a little damp from walking through the rain, her favourite charcoal sketch had smudged around the edges, managing to turn into a blur and she was pretty sure one of Anna's kittens had snuck away some of her oil pastels last night. But, Kaitlyn was smiling. All these things might have upset her had this been any other day. But today? Today the heavy gray sheets of rain seemed to radiate the colour of his eyes. The black charcoal was reminiscent of his hair and even with the missing pastels, she still had all she needed to complete the image before her.

It wasn't one of those pictures-the ones that started with an itch in her palm and an inevitable future - but for the first time in her life, she wished it was. Kait was just about finished- a touch of gold here, a curl in the black there was all that remained. She still had an hour though so she took her time, carefully filling in the details. She let her hands take control and her mind began to wander. She thought of the last two years of her life that had been so much better than she could have ever imagined.

Two years. That's how long it's been she thought. Two years since the whitewash of fear and panic that was a constant drumming in her heart disappeared. Vanished, along with Mr. Zetes. And love and light had taken its place.

Thinking of love left her thinking of him. Gabriel. The love of her life. Even now, after two years, he still looked at her as if she were a queen and she still viewed him as a knight. My knight. Just this morning, she'd woken up in his strong arms and felt even the tiniest anxieties she might have had about today melt away.

And then his eyes opened. He looked startlingly handsome with his dark curls twisted in a messy bedhead, pale strong arms and his breathtaking crooked half smile but it wasn't any of these things that held her thought. It was his eyes. Even in their sleepy gaze, she could see love beyond anything else and she was surer of her love for him than she'd ever been about anything.

"Chiaroscuro," Kaitlyn said, "Did you know that that's the first impression I ever had of you? Black and white."

Gabriel considered this and then replied with light humour in his voice, "You know I'd be offended if my first impression of you wasn't 'medieval witch'." He air quoted the last two words and leaned in to kiss her. "I can't believe it's today," he whispered against her lips, "How did a guy like me end up with a girl like you?"

"Through the use of endless, clichéd western movie lines," she told him, running her hand through his shiny black hair and smiling. It was her new smile. The smile that erupted on her face whenever she was near Gabriel. Or when she thought of him. Or when someone brought up his name. Really, mostly anything that reminded her of him brought on this particular smile.

He answered with his own hundred megawatt smile and a lingering disbelief in his eyes."I really, honestly, truly can't believe you're mine," He tightened his arms around her, "Too bad we can't just stay in bed all day."

"We can't. Or have you actually forgotten?" Kaitlyn lifted a brow.

Amusement flickered in his melting gray eyes. He sat up in the bed and lifted her up in his arms. "As if I could forget. Today's going to be a great day!" he said. And then he kissed her. It was the kind of kiss that had her wondering whether they could really stay in bed all day.

Simply thinking of this one innocent moment had her blushing. Gabriel was so much more now than the black and white boy she had first seen stepping out of the California Youth Authority bus. It wasn't just the good in him that had surfaced since their proclamation of love. He had so many different sides to him now that she had never known before. He was funny, smart, thoughtful and so much more. Even now, she would see a new him and get goosebumps all over.